GIFT   OF 


/ff  7 


J.     FOUNT    MARTIN 


Two  In  One 


The  Story  of  two  blended  lives 
exemplifying  and  illustrating  the 
meaning  and  final  perfected  state 
of  human  existence. 


BY 

J.  FOUNT  MARTIN 


Dedicated  to  all  who  love  Truth  more  than  Creeds. 


1907 

FRANKLIN  PRINTING  HOUSE 
Fresno.  California 


».  ft 

COPYRIGHT,  1907, 

BY 
J.  FOUNT  MARTIN. 


FOREWORD. 


In  the  year  1891,  I  made  the  acquaintance  of 
the  authors  of  this  work.  Being  for  some  months 
guests  at  the  same  hotel,  our  acquaintance  ripened 
into  a  very  warm  friendship.  At  this  time,  their 
faces  were  seamed  with  marks  of  age  and  care, 
but  were  lighted  up  with  a  radiance  of  peace  and 
joy  which  rumor  attributed  to  their  recent  nup- 
tials. They  were  quite  reticent  in  regard  to  their 
past  lives  and  I  learned  only  that  they  had  known 
each  other  in  early  youth  and  that  after  a  half 
century  of  vicissitudes  their  life-currents  had 
lately  merged  into  one.  On  separation  from  them 
they,  henceforth,  dropped  out  of  my  life  except  as 
enshrined  in  friendship's  memory,  until  1906, 
when  I  received  the  following  brief  communica- 
tion: 

Beulah  Place. 
Dear  Friend  and  Bro.: 

Have  you  kept  in  remembrance  a  pair  of  oldish 
people  named  Morven  who,  years  ago,  were  so- 
journers  with  you  for  a  time  in  an  Oakland  hotel  ? 
With  us,  the  intervening  time  has  but  served  to 
strengthen  the  bond  of  friendship  then  formed. 

We  long  to  meet  you  again  and  renew  our  afore- 

3— *  *•*•  t  \  * 
o*>^±b 


foreword. 

time  face-to-face  communings.  Can  you  not  make 
us  a  visit  ?  At  present,  we  are  living  retired  from 
the  world.  Our  place  is  accessible,  to  within  a 
few  miles,  by  railway,  on  the  U.  P.  line  of  road. 
The  nearest  station  is  Colfax.  We  assume  that 
you  will  come.  Write  us  when,  and  we  will  meet 
you  with  a  conveyance. 

Yours  in  love  and  truth, 

ROBERT  and  MARY  MORVEN. 

This  letter  came  very  opportunely  as  I  was  just 
hesitating  as  to  whence  I  should  flit  for  a  brief 
summer  outing.  So,  responding  at  once,  in  due 
time  I  found  myself  vis-a-vis  with  my  quondam 
friends  in  their  mountain  home. 

And  here,  in  their  presence,  I  experienced  the 
greatest  surprise  of  my  life,  caused  by  the  change 
in  their  appearance.  Their  identity  was  very 
manifest  in  the  general  lineaments  and  funda- 
mental features  of  personal  bearing  and  manner, 
but  somehow  they  seemed  not  to  be  the  same  per- 
sons whom  I  had  formerly  known.  A  wondrous 
change  had  passed  upon  them.  What  it  was  I 
could  not  define.  For  one  thing,  all  signs  of  age 
had  vanished  and  they  were  the  very  picture  of 
middle  age  strength  and  health.  But  it  was  not 
this  of  itself,  nor  mainly,  that  made  the  differ- 
ence. It  was  not  merely  that  the  dial  of  time  had 
been  turned  backward  in  their  lives,  but  that  their 
entire  being  had  become — what  shall  I  say? — 


Foreword. 

glorified,  and  that  their  faces  glowed  with  an 
indescribable,  ethereal  beauty.  "  Whatever  has 
come  over  you  people?"  I  exclaimed.  "Have  you 
found  the  long  sought  elixir  vitae  or  the  fountain 
of  youth?" 

"Whether  we  have  or  have  not  we  will  leave 
for  you  to  decide  after  you  have  read  this  brief 
narrative  of  our  experiences,"  replied  Mr.  Mor- 
ven,  handing  me  a  type- written  manuscript. ' '  This 
will  probably  be  more  satisfactory  than  anything 
we  might  say." 

"Now,  my  Dear  Friend,"  he  continued,  "Tell 
us  of  yourself." 

And  so  the  matter  was  dismissed  and  not  again 
referred  to  until  I  had  read,  reread  and  pondered 
these  remarkable  disclosures.  What  my  conclu- 
sion was  or  should  have  been,  I  leave  the  reader 
to  judge. 

My  stay  with  my  friends  was  somewhat  pro- 
longed and  I  was  privileged  to  read  other  writings 
of  the  authors  of  a  most  marvellous  character  of 
which,  more,  perhaps,  hereafter.  I  suggested  the 
publication  of  their  works.  They  thought  favor- 
ably of  my  suggestion  and  honored  me  with  the 
request  that  I  should  select  such  portions  as  in  my 
judgment  might  seem,  at  present,  most  fitting,  and 
act  as  their  agent  in  bringing  them  before  the 
public.  The  result  is  the  present  volume. 

J.  FOUNT  MARTIN. 


CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Foreword   5 

Introduction   9 

Chapters  I  to  IV   inclusive,   Life    Sketch  of.  Mr 
Morven.  —  Experiences       in 
Truth-seeking. — Natural  Sci- 
ence,    Spiritualism,     Theos- 

ophy,  Etc 15 

Chapter       V — Life  Sketch  of  Mrs.  Morven. — Ex- 
perience in  Christian  Science  85 

Chapter      VI— God    109 

Chapter    VII— Creation    123 

Chapter  VIII— Evil    137 

Chapter      IX — Man. — Psychology    149 

Chapter  X —  Same  continued — Mental  Heal- 
ing   171 

Chapter      XI— Sex— Spiritual  and  Natural..  193 
Chapter    XII — Experience  in  Unseen  Realm.  .218 

Chapter  XIII— Same  continued 237 

Chapter  XIV — Historical  Crisis  —  Present 
Outlook.—  Final  Perfected 
State  of  All  Humanity 253 


INTRODUCTION. 

This  book  was  not  made,  it  grew.  It  is  the 
growth  of  a  life  time,  from  seed-thought  planted 
in  youth — the  condensed  outcome  of  a  life-long 
effort  to  get  a  satisfactory  solution  of  certain  es- 
sential problems  of  existence  which  from  time  im- 
memorial, have  taxed  the  world 's  best  thought 
and  which  every  thinking  mind  must  face  in 
every  serious  moment  of  life.  By  a  satisfactory 
solution  is  meant  such  a  solution  as  will  harmonize 
with  the  idea  of  God  as  absolute  Love,  Wisdom 
and  Power ;  with  the  teachings  of  the  Scriptures ; 
with  reason;  with  the  facts  of  nature,  and  the 
conditions  of  our  present  existence. 

These  questions  will  not  down.  In  vain,  we 
strive  to  stifle  them  by  endeavoring  to  confine 
our  thought  within  the  limits  of  this  short  span 
of  life  and  in  the  pursuit  of  mere  time  and  sense 
interests.  In  vain,  we  seek  to  base  ethics  or 
religion  upon  foundations  other  than  that  of  a 
satisfactory  explanation  of  the  conditions  and  out- 
come of  existence — an  explanation  logically  con- 
sistent with  absolute  perfection  in  Deity  and  an 
assured  faith  in  immortality. 

We  look  up  at  the  starry  heavens,  and  every 
twinkling  orb  challenges  our  questioning  as  to  the 


10  Introduction 

illimitable  power  and  intelligence  that  brought 
them  into  being  and  guides  them  in  their  courses. 

A  friend  or  loved  one  drops  out  of  view,  by 
what  we  term  death,  and  our  yearning  hearts  go 
out  in  longing  to  penetrate  the  secrets  of  the  silent 
land. 

A  terrible  catastrophe  of  nature  such  as  the 
San  Francisco  earthquake  comes  overwhelming  in 
disaster  multitudes  indiscriminately,  and  we  stand 
aghast,  wondering  as  to  how  such  things  can  be 
in  a  universe  under  the  control  of  an  infinite  and 
beneficent  power.  The  scientist  tells  us  that  they 
happen  in  accordance  with  a  law  of  nature.  Cer- 
tainly, but  this  is  no  answer  to  our  questioning. 
Our  inquiry  relates  to  the  motive  of  Him  who  put 
in  operation  these  second  causes  called  laws  and 
forces  of  nature,  and  under  whose  guidance  we 
have  results  seemingly  so  inconsistent  with  those 
attributes  which  we  must  hold  as  constituting  the 
character  of  the  Almighty. 

The  Intelligence  and  Power  that  created  the 
worlds  and  ordained  the  law  of  all  cosmic  forces 
also  created  man  and  placed  him  here  subject  to 
their  disastrous  activities.  Assuming  a  Principle 
of  Infinite  Good  of  which  the  iiniverse  is  the  ex- 
pression, how  shall  we  account  for  the  evil  and 
suffering  in  its  domain?  How  account  for  the 
fact  that  we  are  ushered  into  a  world  environed 
by  the  "pestilence  that  walketh  in  darkness "  and 


Introduction  11 

the  ''destruction  that  wasteth  at  noonday"?  We 
naturally  ask:  Can  there  be  a  heart  of  love  at 
the  center  of  all  things  ?  Can  the  evil  conditions 
and  consequent  suffering  in  which  our  lives  are 
set  have  a  beneficent  purpose?  Are  evil  and  suf- 
fering a  necessary  concomitant  of  existence? 
Whence,  and  what  are  we?  and  what  is  the  object 
and  final  outcome  of  this  present  state  of  exist- 
ence? Is  birth  the  beginning  of  man's  being  and 
does  death  end  all  ?  If  there  is  a  life  beyond,  what 
is  its  nature  and  what  our  present  relation  to  it  ? 

The  highest  point  attainable  here  is  the  awak- 
ening of  unrealized  and  unrealizable  aspirations 
for  an  ideal  manhood  of  goodness,  truth  and  power 
such  as  was  exemplified  in  the  Christ.  Is  there 
a  sphere  beyond  where  these  longings  shall  receive 
their  satisfaction?  If  not,  then  what  better  is 
existence  than  a  hideous  dream — a  frightful  abor- 
tion? Is  the  race,  moved  by  an  all-impelling 
force,  evolving  toward  a  definite,  predetermined 
and  assured  end,  or  is  human  destiny,  in  whole 
or  in  part,  dependent  on  human  weakness  and 
caprice  ? 

If  our  historic  unfoldment  has  had  reference  to 
a  fixed,  ultimate  destiny,  what  has  been  the  pro- 
cess of  unfoldment,  at  what  point  have  we  arrived 
and  what  is  the  present  outlook? 

These  and  cognate  questions  are  pressing  for 
solution.  They  are  the  sphinx's  riddle  of  this 


12  Introduction 

age.  The  present  mental  status  is  such  that  not 
to  solve  them  means  decadence  of  religious  faith 
if  not  its  death. 

Can  we  hope  for  a  satisfactory  answer  to  such 
questioning?  Have  we  the  data  from  which  we 
can  arrive  at  conclusions  in  harmony  with  reason  ? 
— conclusions  so  relating  present  conditions  to  the 
final  outcome  as  to  perfectly  satisfy  both  head 
and  heart? 

Assuredly  a  solution  of  these  problems  is  within 
our  reach.  Existence  is  not  a  mockery.  The 
religious  instinct  or  principle,  that  which  chiefly 
constitutes  man  a  human  being  as  differentiated 
from  the  brute — that  welling  up  from  within  and 
seeking  expression  of  an  innate  consciousness  of 
a  Divine  indwelling — that  instinctive  faith  in  and 
looking  forward  to  a  life  beyond  this  brief  span, 
is  not  a  deception.  "As  the  hart  panteth  after 
the  water-brooks,  so  panteth  my  soul  after  Thee, 
0  God.  When  shall  I  come  and  appear  before 
God?"  is  a  cry  from  the  depths  of  the  heart  of 
humanity  that  will  be  heard. 

According  to  a  fixed  law  of  nature,  the  very 
fact  that  this  demand  for  enlightenment  on  these 
subjects  is  inherent  and  insistent  in  man  is  a 
guarantee  that  the  light  will  come.  But  really 
the  light  has  come.  It  has  ever  been  here  shin- 
ing out  from  nature's  revelations  and  through  the 
utterances  of  seers  and  prophets  whom  our  Heav- 


Introduction  13 

enly  Father  has  raised  up,  in  all  ages,  to  voice 
the  truth  for  the  needs  of  his  children.  As  says 
the  Apostle,  the  invisible  things  of  God  have  ever 
been  manifest  for  man's  reading  in  the  visible 
things  of  creation.  And  above  all  and  inclusive 
of  all,  we  have  a  written  revelation  which  when 
properly  understood  meets  all  the  needs  of  heart 
and  mind.  It  is  contained  in  the  Divine  Word 
of  which  Jesus  Christ  is  the  fullness  and  embodi- 
ment. 

We  are  just  now  passing  from  an  era  in  which 
all  religious  faith  was  based  on  authority;  when 
all  points  pertaining  to  religion  were  settled  by 
ecclesiastical  dicta  which  the  masses  dared  not 
question  and  which,  in  fact,  but  few  thought  of 
questioning.  They  rested  content  with  what 
those  whom  they  accepted  as  authorized  teachers 
gave  them  as  truth.  But  the  time  is  dawning 
when  authority  will  no  longer  be  the  bar  of  judg- 
ment, when  only  that  will  be  accepted  as  true 
which  carries  with  it  its  own  credentials  by  its 
consistency  with  all  other  known  truth  and  by 
the  light  outshining  from  its  own  rationality.  For 
one  thing  and  chiefly,  no  blot  on  the  sun  of  the 
Divine  perfections  will,  in  thought,  be  entertained. 
God  will  be  held  as  the  All-in-all  in  reality,  as 
creating  only  to  bless  and  as  inevitably  accom- 
plishing his  beneficent  purpose.  And  hence  all 
human  experiences  whether  of  this  world  or  the 


14  Introduction 

world  to  come  will  be  seen  to  have  reference  to 
and  to  be  working  out  the  infinite  design  of  good 
to  all.  Any  theory,  conclusion,  or  system  of  doc- 
trine, whether  the  deduction  of  philosophy  or  of 
science,  or  the  interpretation  of  a  written  revela- 
tion, which  contravenes  this  axiom  of  intuitional 
reason  will,  ipso  facto,  stamp  itself  as  false.  Such 
is  the  standard  by  which  this  book  asks  to  be 
judged. 

It  would  be  the  extreme  of  presumption  to  as- 
sume that  a  work  embracing  so  large  a  scope  of 
thought  should  in  all  its  details  or  in  the  manner 
of  treatment  of  its  various  subjects  be  satisfac- 
tory to  all  readers.  But  the  high  encomiums  of 
those  who  have  read  the  manuscript  and  who  are 
eminently  qualified  to  judge  of  its  merits,  justify 
the  hope  that  it  may  be  helpful  in  giving  mental 
anchorage  and  rest  to  a  large  and  increasing  class 
of  thinking  minds,  more  or  less  unsettled  in  this 
transitional  era. 


Two  In  One. 


CHAPTER  I. 

"There's  a  divinity  which  shapes  our  ends, 
rough-hew  them  how  we  may,"  writes  the  im- 
mortal bard  of  Avon.  My  life  appears  to  have 
been  an  exemplification  of  the  truth  of  this  state- 
ment. I  seem  to  have  been  originally,  by  both 
heredity  and  environment,  placed  in  a  current  and 
borne  along  on  its  tide,  the  course  of  which  I  have 
had  little  to  do  in  directing. 

My  father  having  died  in  my  infancy  I  was  left 
to  the  care  of  my  mother.  She  was  of  Scotch 
parentage  and  came  of  a  line  of  preachers  of  the 
extremest  Scottish  puritanism;  while  my  father, 
as  I  learned  from  my  mother,  though  reverent  of 
Deity,  was  of  a  scientific  and  rationalistic  type 
of  mind  and  so  was  doctrinally  out  of  harmony 
with  the  dogmatic  teachings  of  my  mother's 
church.  In  myself,  the  elements  were  a  blending 
of  my  parents  combined  with  a  strain  derived 
from  a  remoter  ancestry.  I  inherited  both  the 
religious  nature  of  my  mother  and  the  mental 
characteristics  of  my  father ;  but  unlike  either  of 


16  Two  In  One 

them  was  very  excitable,  painfully  self-conscious, 
egotistic  and  emotionally  intense,  on  slight  provo- 
cation quivering  with  agony  or  thrilling  with 
ecstacy. 

I  early  developed  a  love  of  reading,  but  had 
access  to  little  literature  other  than  the  religious 
works  of  puritanism  and  the  Bible.  The  former 
was  little  to  my  taste,  but  the  latter  I  read 
through  and  through  with  great  delight,  even  as 
a  child;  and  to  this  early  acquaintance  with  the 
Scriptures  I  owe  the  trend  of  my  entire  life. 

The  death  of  my  father  threw  upon  my  shoul- 
ders burdens  fitted  to  be  borne  only  by  mature 
years,  and  thus  induced  a  premature  development. 
Thoughts,  fancies,  dreams  and  aspirations  abnor- 
mal to  childhood  thronged  my  brain.  The  mys- 
teries of  life  fascinated  me.  Often  in  the  midst 
of  active  engagements  would  I  suddenly  stop, 
startled  by  questions  which  the  wisest  philoso- 
phers have  vainly  essayed  to  answer,  such  as, 
"Who  and  what  am  I?"— "What  is  Man?"— 
"Who  and  what  is  God?" — "Whence  are  we,  and 
whither  do  we  go?"  Such  problems,  of  course 
in  a  dim  and  nebulous  form,  pressed  upon  me  and 
demanded  an  answer.  It  was  my  delight  to 
wander  over  the  fields  and  woods,  alone  with  na- 
ture, listening  to  the  soft  soughing  of  the  wind 
through  the  forest,  to  the  chattering  of  squirrels 
and  to  the  song  of  birds;  and  lying  down  on  the 


Two  In  One  17 

soft  green  grass  or  looking  out  of  my  window,  it 
was  my  custom  to  gaze  into  the  heavens — by  day, 
at  the  shifting  panorama  of  sun-lit  clouds  and  by 
night,  at  the  star-bespangled  sky  and  the  serene 
shining  of  the  moon — my  heart  swelling  with 
emotions  which  I  could  neither  understand  nor 
utter.  At  such  times  it  was  as  if  I  were  one  with 
the  infinite  life  in  which  I  was  immersed. 

I  had  but  few  playmates,  and  none  in  sympathy 
with  me.  Thus  I  came  to  shrink  from  expressing 
my  thoughts  and  feelings,  and  lapsed  into  a  con- 
dition of  morbid  loneliness.  The  awakened  sense 
of  sex-relations  which  came  in  the  course  of  my 
development  toward  manhood  intensified  this  un- 
wholesome feeling.  I  was  taught  by  my  religious 
teachers  that  men  and  women  after  this  life  be- 
come sexless,  and  that  all  relations  growing  out 
of  sex  cease  with  the  laying  down  of  the  body. 
My  deeper  and  higher  nature  revolted  against  this 
doctrine.  I  felt  then,  what  I  now  know,  that  the 
individual  of  either  sex  is  but  one  half  of  the 
complete  man,  and  that  the  union  as  one  with  the 
other  half  is  essential  to  perfectness.  My  lone- 
liness took  on  the  form  of  a  vague,  agonizing 
longing  for  that  other  one,  somewhere  existent, 
who  would  be  to  me  as  my  other  self,  entering  into 
and  filling  out  my  present  partial  being. 

To  my  dear  mother  alone  did  I  ever  attempt  to 
confide  my  thoughts.  She,  with  the  fullness  of 


18  Two  In  One 

a  mother's  love,  endeavored  to  sympathize  with 
me,  and  as  best  she  could  to  advise  and  comfort 
me.  But  she  did  not  understand  my  mental  state 
and  was  alarmed  to  think  whither  my  strange 
fancies  might  tend.  She  therefore  discouraged 
their  indulgence.  But  this  course  only  threw  me 
back  more  intensely  upon  myself. 

My  mother's  religious  training,  her  views  of 
God  and  of  man's  relation  to  Him,  tended  to  dis- 
qualify her  as  guide  out  of  the  labyrinth  in  which 
I  was  wandering. 

My  grandfather's  conception  of  God  (which,  of 
course,  determined  his  entire  system  of  doctrine), 
may  be  summed  up  in  the  following  language  of 
Jonathan  Edwards:  ''Now  (in  this  life  alone), 
God  stands  ready  to  pardon  you ;  this  is  a  day  of 
mercy.  But  when  the  day  of  mercy  is  past  (at 
death),  your  most  lamentable  and  dolorous  cries 
and  shrieks  will  be  in  vain;  you  will  be  wholly 
lost  and  thrown  away  of  God  as  to  any  regard  for 
your  welfare.  God  will  have  no  other  use  to 
put  you  to  but  to  suffer  misery.  You  will  be 
continued  in  being  to  no  other  end." 

My  poor  mother  had  been  taught  and  had  un- 
reservedly accepted  this  as  a  true  characteriza- 
tion of  God,  and  upon  her  tender  spirit  its  influ- 
ence was  deadly.  It  was  not  that  she  did  not 
realize  the  Heavenly  Father's  love  as  manifested 
in  the  Christ.  For  herself,  she  could  and  did 


Two  In  One  19 

take  refuge  in  the  Savior.  But  alas !  for  the  mass 
of  mankind,  her  husband  included,  who,  for  any 
reason,  failed  to  comply  with  the  conditions  of  the 
gospel  and  thus,  as  she  believed,  remained  ex- 
posed to  the  wrath  of  Divine  Justice.  Her  life 
was  so  vitally  at  one  with  that  of  her  husband 
that  she  could  conceive  of  no  happiness  or  well 
being  but  in  sharing  his  destiny. 

She  became  possessed  of  the  horror  of  the  fu- 
ture thus  generated  in  her  mind,  her  natural  joy- 
ousness  being  replaced  by  a  deep-seated  melan- 
choly which  undermined  her  physical  health.  She, 
for  my  sake,  bore  up  bravely,  but  at  last  passed 
out  of  my  sight  a  victim  to  a  false  conception  of 
God  and  of  man's  essential  relations  to  him.  She 
sought  relief  for  her  burdened  heart  in  writing. 
There  lies  before  me  quite  a  volume  of  her  manu- 
script, from  which  as  illustrating  her  character 
and  suffering  spirit,  I  quote  the  following  verses : 

"The  earth  below,  the  heavens  above, 

Declare,  'tis  said,  that  God  is  love, 

And  that  the  end  of  nature's  plan 

Stands  forth  revealed  complete  in  man, 

In  faculties  designed  to  be 

An  image  of  Divinity. 

He  woke  to  life  in  Eden  fair — 

To  dress  and  keep  it  was  his  care. 

Then  God  as  gift  to  crown  his  life 

Gave  him,  for  helpmeet,  Eve,  his  wife. 

Spontaneous  fruits,  both  sweet  and  good 

Abounded  for  his  daily  food; 

But  in  the  midst  there  stood  a  tree 

To  eat  of  which  this  penalty:  — 

'The  day  thou  eatest,  thou  shalt  die, 


20  Two  In  One 


Thou  and  all  thy  progeny.' 

Man  lusting  for  this  fruit  denied 

Reached  forth  and  plucked  and  ate  and  died. 

So  thus  upon  his  ruined  race 

Came  sorrow,  pain  and  death  apace. 

Such  is  the  explanation  given 

Of  all  our  miseries  under  heaven. 

Henceforth  a  horrid  demon  spell 

Holds  man  and  drags  him  down  to  hell, 

Save  here  and  there  an  elect  one, 

Redeemed  hy  Christ,  God's  only  Son, 

Who  doth  himself  to  death  resign, 

Thus  shielding  such  from  wrath  Divine. 

But  these  alone —  The  rest  passed  by 

Are  doomed  the  eternal  death  to  die. 

Today,  our  loved  ones  we  embrace — 

Tomorrow,  banished  from  God's  face, 

In  horrors  evermore  they  dwell 

Beyond  the  power  of  tongue  to  tell. 

Such  the  'tidings  glad'  we're  told 

Proclaimed  on  Bethlehem's  plains  of  old — 

'Good  will  and  peace,'  the  angels  sing, 

In  joyful  notes  their  voices  ring. 

Alas,  to  me  these  tidings  fall 

On  unresponsive  ears.       A  pall 

Shrouds  heaven  and  earth  in  deepest  gloom 

Where  joy  and  gladness  have  no  room."  etc. 

Amongst  my  mother's  papers  was  found  the 
following  bequest : 

"I  leave  my  entire  estate  to  my  son,  Robert  M. 
Morven,  and  I  hereby  request  that  Mr.  Henry 
Vincent  shall  act  as  his  guardian  during  his  mi- 
nority. 

(Signed)          "MIRIAM  MORVEN." 

My  guardian  was  a  merchant  and  lived  in  a 
distant  town.  His  family  consisted  of  three  per- 


Two  In  One  21 

sons  besides  himself,  Mrs.  Vincent,  their  daughter 
Mary,  and  a  younger  child,  Jamie.  In  religion, 
they  were  disciples  of  John  Wesley,  and  were 
ardent  devotees  of  their  church.  Thus  the 
daughter  was  reared  in  an  atmosphere  redolent 
with  ecclesiastical  pietism.  Life,  to  her,  was  cir- 
cumscribed by  Church  relations  and  Church 
duties.  In  her  mind,  the  two  great  command- 
ments were,  "Thou  shalt  seek  religion  by  attend- 
ing faithfully  upon  all  the  means  of  grace/'  and 
"Thou  shalt  abstain  from  dancing  and  all  other 
forms  of  worldly  amusement." 

The  immediate  end  to  be  attained  by  these 
efforts  was  conversion — that  is,  the  passing 
through  a  well-defined  religious  experience,  con- 
sisting first  of  deep  contrition  for  sin ;  and  second, 
the  sense  of  pardon,  and  a  joy  corresponding.  The 
more  intense  these  emotions,  the  deeper  and  more 
satisfactory  "the  work  of  grace."  Thencefor- 
ward, the  object  sought  by  the  continued  use  of 
the  "means  of  grace,"  viz.,  attendance  on  preach- 
ing, prayer  meetings,  communion,  love  feasts, 
class-meetings,  together  with  private  prayer  and 
reading  of  the  Bible,  was  "growth  in  grace,"  ad- 
vancing eventually  to  perfectness.  This  perfect- 
ness  was  inaugurated  by  another  mental  cataclysm 
similar  to  conversion,  known  as  the  "Baptism  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,"  or  "the  Second  Blessing." 
Loud  singing  and  praying  and  shouting  were 


22  Two  In  One 

greatly  in  favor  as  a  means  of  attaining  these 
emotional  states. 

After  my  mother's  death,  I  became  a  member 
of  Mr.  Vincent's  household.  Having  been  ac- 
customed to  the  extreme  quietness  and  awe  per- 
vading a  puritanical  religious  meeting,  I  found 
it  at  first  somewhat  difficult  to  adapt  myself  to 
my  new  surroundings. 

Mary  and  I  were  about  the  same  age,  she  being 
sixteen,  and  I,  eighteen ;  and  though  very  different 
in  our  physical  and  mental  characteristics,  we 
soon  became  devoted  friends — indeed,  we  came 
to  love  each  other  dearly,  and  were  confidants 
even  beyond  what  usually  maintains  between 
brother  and  sister. 

She  was  a  girl  of  unusual  mental  ability  and 
native  strength  of  character.  She  was  harmonious 
in  her  physical  and  mental  makeup,  in  no  way 
being  marked  by  any  striking  peculiarities  or 
characteristics.  In  height,  she  was  about  average 
with  blue  eyes,  fair  skin  and  light  hair.  She  was 
vivacious  and  free  from  self -consciousness ;  candid 
and  conscientious;  confiding  and  self-sacrificing, 
pious,  gentle  and  loving 

To  the  regret  of  herself  and  her  parents,  she 
could  not  as  yet  point  to  any  marked  emotional 
religious  experience  such  as  was  esteemed  so 
essential  by  her  people.  Hence  I  soon  found  that 
the  paramount  concern  of  her  parents,  and,  as  far 


Two  In  One  23 

as  her  overflowing  animal  spirits  would  allow,  of 
herself,  was  her  "conversion." 

I  had  from  childhood  felt  that  my  life's  voca- 
tion was  to  be  that  of  a  minister  of  the  Gospel. 
But  whilst  by  both  heredity  and  education  the 
whole  trend  of  my  being  was  toward  a  religious 
life,  it  had  never  become  outwardly  manifest  in 
action  or  profession.  In  my  present  status  and 
relation  to  the  church,  therefore,  I  was  not  pre- 
pared to  take  any  step  looking  toward  my  con- 
templated work  of  preaching;  but  I  could  not 
bring  my  mind  to  consent  to  engage  in  any  other 
avocation.  I  confided  my  perplexity  to  Mary, 
and  she  in  surprise  cried,  "Why,  Robert,  the 
trouble  with  you  is  that  you  havn't  been  con- 
verted," and  from  that  moment  she  apparently 
forgot  her  own  unconverted  state  in  her  deep 
solicitude  for  me.  She  not  only  herself  prayed 
for  me,  but  enlisted  the  interest  of  her  parents 
and  friends  in  my  behalf,  to  such  extent  that  it 
became  somewhat  annoying. 

Near  the  time  when  I  was  to  enter  college  there 
was  a  wave  of  religious  excitement  passing  over 
the  country  and  I  learned,  with  no  thought  of  any 
personal  interest,  that  a  celebrated  revivalist  was 
soon  to  commence  a  series  of  meetings  in  our 
town.  He  came,  and  by  his  incisive,  magnetic 
oratory  electrified  the  entire  community.  Business 
was  suspended  for  the  time,  and  nothing  was 


24  Two  In  One 

thought  of  or  talked  of  but  religion.  From  curi- 
osity, I  attended,  but  took  no  interest  in  the 
proceedings.  Multitudes,  at  the  call  of  the  min- 
ister, from  day  to  day,  rushed  forward  to  be 
prayed  for  as  if  panic-stricken;  but  I  felt  no 
inclination  to  follow  their  example.  Many  were 
"  con  verted"  daily,  but  the  noisy  exercises — the 
shouts  of  rejoicing  of  the  converts,  mingled  with 
the  groans  of  the  penitents  and  the  vociferous  ex- 
hortations of  the  speaker,  only  confused  me. 

Mary  had  been  among  the  early  converts. 
Knowing  her  interest  in  me  and  not  wishing  to 
wound  her  feelings  by  my  coldness,  I  avoided  any 
communication  with  her.  But  at  length  her  sur- 
charged heart  impelling  her  to  throw  off  all  con- 
ventional reserve,  she  pushed  her  way  to  my  side, 
in  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd.  With  her  soul  in 
her  face  and  an  expression  of  unutterable  longing 
in  every  action  and  feature,  she  lifted  upon  me 
her  tear-suffused  eyes,  and  said  only  this:  "Kob- 
ert,  won't  you  come?"  How  shall  I  describe  my 
feelings  at  that  moment?  I  was  as  one  pierced 
with  an  arrow,  and  a  horror  of  darkness  fell  upon 
me.  As  the  Psalmist  hath  it,  "The  sorrows  of 
hell  gat  hold  of  me."  I  know  not  how  I  got 
to  the  place  of  prayer  nor  how  long  I  remained 
there.  The  first  I  remember  was  the  gentle 
touch  of  Mary's  hand  upon  my  head,  and  the 
sound  of  her  earnest,  entreating  voice,  "Lord, 


Two  In  One  25 

save  Robert  or  I  cannot  live."  In  a  moment  it 
was  as  if  the  heavens  had  been  cleft,  whence 
supernal  light  descended  upon  me,  whilst  wave 
after  wave  of  ineffable  peace  and  joy  rolled  over 
me.  I  was  a  new  man  in  a  new  world.  My 
first  thought  was, ' '  Now  my  way  is  clear  to  preach 
the  Gospel." 

There  was  one  peculiarity  of  my  experience  at 
this  time  at  which  I  was  surprised  and  perplexed. 
It  was  that  all  my  new-found  joy  seemed  in  some 
inexplicable  way  to  be  connected  with  Mary.  At 
the  very  center  of  my  internal  self  in  God  was 
enthroned  the  sense  of  a  feminine  presence,  and 
all  my  new  life  seemed  to  flow  from  that  center. 
With  all  my  religious  emotions  a  sense  of  oneness 
with  this  feminine  presence  was  inextricably  in- 
tertwined. The  thought  of  God  always  brought 
before  me  the  thought  of — Mary. 

It  may  be  said,  "The  solution  of  that  problem 
is  easy.  You  were  unconsciously  in  love  with  the 
girl."  But  no,  I  did  not  love  Mary  in  the  sense 
in  which  that  term  is  ordinarily  used.  With 
the  subsidence  of  my  intense  religious  emotions 
and  the  reasserting  of  the  external  self,  the  sense 
of  her  pervading  presence  passed  away,  and  all 
attraction  for  her  different  in  quality  from  that 
towards  other  women  ceased. 


26  Two  In  One 

The  explanation  of  this  experience  (I  felt  then 
and  I  now  know)  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  outer 
sense  attraction  but  in  a  real  conscious  union  of 
spirit  with  spirit  in  God. 


CHAPTER  H. 

The  next  few  years  we  pass  over  briefly.  My 
time  was  spent  over  my  college  and  theological 
studies.  The  prescribed  course  in  the  classics 
and  in  mathematics  was  duly  completed,  together 
with  the  small  modicum  of  natural  science  then 
deemed  requisite  in  order  to  graduation. 

Follodwin  this,  a  cut-and-dried  theological 
pabulum  prepared  for  aspirants  to  the  ministry 
being  bolted  down  undigested  and  unassimilated, 
I  was  authorized  by  my  ecclesiastical  teachers  to 
preach  the  Gospel. 

The  next  thing  in  order  was  to  secure  a  church 
location.  And  just  here  a  practical  discrepancy 
arose  between  the  theological  theory  of  my  teach- 
ers and  the  actual  facts.  The  teaching  had  been 
that  we  students  should  stand  ready  to  go 
wherever  God  might  call  us  by  pointing  out  a 
need  that  we  could  supply;  and,  looking  to  Him 
to  provide  for  all  our  wants,  we  should  not  in  the 
least  be  governed  by  earthly  reward  in  settling 
upon  the  place  for  our  labors.  But  I  found  that 
the  young  ecclesiastics  took  this  teaching  in  a 
modified  sense,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  were  as 
full  of  schemes  in  hunting  good  places  as  poli- 
ticians are  in  seeking  office. 


28  Two  In  One 

I  fortunately  commanded  some  influence  in 
high  places,  and  consequently  soon  found  myself 
duly  installed  pastor  of  a  wealthy,  fashionable 
city  congregation,  and  so  entered  upon  my  work 
with  bright  prospects.  I  labored  to  please,  as  I 
then  persuaded  myself,  for  the  good  of  others,  but 
as  I  now  know  really  for  the  gaining  of  man's  ap- 
plause. My  natural  egotism  was  inflamed  by  my 
success,  and  thus  the  world  gradually  threw  a 
glamour  over  my  spiritual  vision.  I  rapidly  de- 
generated from  the  position  to  which  I  had 
aspired,  of  being  a  fearless  and  independent 
preacher  of  righteousness,  to  that  of  being  merely 
the  mouthpiece  of  a  selfish,  worldly  ecclesiasticism 
veneered  over  by  a  thin  coating  of  sanctity.  Stand- 
ing at  the  center  of  the  thought-sphere  of  a  band 
of  religious  worldlings,  I  as  their  psychological 
subject  became  merely  an  echo  of  the  thought  with 
which  they  inspired  me. 

Under  the  hot-house  stimulus  of  constant  and 
fulsome  flattery,  especially  by  the  women  of  my 
congregation,  it  was  only  natural  that  my  hered- 
itary pride  should  have  taken  on  a  rank  growth ; 
that  the  odor  of  priestly  dignity  and  sanctity 
should  have  invested  me,  and  that  I  should  have 
blossomed  out  a  full-fledged  Pharisee. 

Surrounded  by  flattery  and  scheming  women, 
the  question  of  marriage  was  pressed  upon  me  for 
settlement.  The  time  seemed  to  have  arrived 


Two  In  One  29 

when,  if  ever,  I  should  enter  upon  that  relation. 
There  was  no  lack  of  eligible  young  ladies  of  my 
acquaintance  from  whom  to  choose,  and  my  self- 
conceit  persuaded  me  that  I  had  only  to  make  my 
selection. 

But  I  had  exalted  ideas  as  to  the  qualities  of 
the  lady  who  should  bear  the  honored  title,  Mrs. 
Morven.  Little  less  than  perfection  would  be  at 
all  satisfactory.  One  after  another  of  my  lady 
friends  was  weighed  in  my  critical  mental  scales 
and  found  wanting.  So  persistently  did  I  turn 
aside,  avoiding  the  feminine  nets  spread  in  my 
way,  that  I  came  to  be  voted  a  confirmed  bachelor. 

But  my  time  came — and  unexpectedly.  At  an 
evening  party  given  by  Mrs.  Van  Tromp,  a  promi- 
nent society  lady  of  my  congregation,  I  was  intro- 
duced to  a  niece  of  hers,  visiting  at  the  house. 
This  sealed  my  fate.  I  had  met  my  ideal.  Rather 
petite  in  person ;  of  sylph-like  form ;  large,  brown 
liquid  eyes  which  to  me  seemed  the  windows  of 
an  angelic  spirit ;  dark,  wavy  hair ;  a  complexion 
almost  transparent;  a  laughing,  genial  nature — 
these  with  other  features  of  attraction  of  Lillian 
Douglas,  captivated  me.  From  the  moment  I 
first  saw  her,  I  made  a  complete  surrender.  It 
seemed  to  my  enamored  vision  that  my  feminine 
self  stood  before  me.  I  was  not  long  in  reveal- 
ing my  state  of  mind  to  her,  and  was  rejoiced  to 
find  that  my  tender  sentiments  were  reciprocated. 


30  Two  In  One 

I  need  not  dwell  here  upon  my  infatuation. 
Any  case  of  sensuous,  amatory  love  as  described 
in  a  conventional  novel  will  answer  the  purpose. 
The  cases  are  all  alike  in  this,  that  life  with  the 
adored  one  is  present  and  everlasting  bliss,  while 
the  thought  of  separation  is  unendurable. 

It  never  even  occurred  to  me  to  inquire  whether 
Miss  Douglas  possessed  the  qualities  which  I  had 
set  up  as  essential  in  my  wife.  Well,  in  brief, 
we  were  married,  and  I  found  her,  as  doubtless 
she  found  me,  quite  different  from  the  picture 
which  fancy  had  painted.  I  was  religiously 
serious  in  my  nature,  and  my  work  was  to  me  of 
infinite  moment;  whilst  my  wife  was  almost  de- 
void of  religious  sentiment,  lived  only  for  and  in 
the  present  moment,  and  consequently  could  have 
no  interest  in  nor  sympathy  with  my  labors  as  a 
preacher.  But  she  was  kind,  gentle  and  loving 
to  all,  while  I,  with  all  my  spiritual  aspirations, 
was  severe,  often  harsh  and  uncharitable  in  my 
criticisms.  She  had  no  appreciation  of  my  spirit- 
ual aspirations  and  other-worldliness ;  I  had  little 
patience  with  her  lack  of  what  I  termed  spiritual 
thought  and  her  general  present-worldliness.  I 
was  somewhat  of  a  student,  and  inclined  to  liter- 
ary pursuits;  she  had  little  literary  culture,  and 
was  contracted  in  her  thought  and  reading. 

I  having  set  up  for  her  a  religious  and  literary 
standard  to  which  she  could  not  attain,  fretted 


Two  In  One  31 

myself  and  grieved  her  because  of  her  failure. 
This  course  only  served  to  anger  and  alienate  my 
wife  and  thus  reacted  upon  myself.  Our  "love 
at  first  sight"  proved  to  have  been  only  a  super- 
ficial glow  of — what  shall  I  call  it? — animal  mag- 
netism! An  equilibrium  between  us  being  estab- 
lished, we  became  to  each  other  exceedingly  un- 
interesting and  commonplace.  Each  saw  in  the 
other  only  faults.  Our  daily  and  hourly  frictions 
foreboded  a  serious  break.  But  fortunately  we 
at  length  tacitly  concluded  to  accept  the  situation 
and  make  the  best  of  it,  taking  each  the  other 
for  what  we  were  instead  of  what  we  would  wish, 
and  expecting  only  what  we  were  prepared  to 
give — each  allowing  the  other  perfect  freedom  to 
act  out  his  life  without  interference  by  the  other. 
Thus  neither  endeavoring  to  assume  any  respon- 
sibility for  the  other's  actions,  and  allowing  per- 
fect liberty,  we  came  to  walk  along  life's  journey 
side  by  side  as  a  pair  of  separate  personalities, 
rather  than  as  ' '  one  from  two, ' '  such  as  had  been 
my  dream.  As  I  look  back  over  my  state  of 
mind  at  that  time,  my  impression  is  that  while  I 
wished  to  bring  myself  and  wife  into  oneness,  I 
was  proposing  to  be  that  one. 

The  birth  of  a  daughter  for  a  time  wrought  a 
change  in  our  relations.  As  I  gazed  on  the  little 
creature,  "fresh  from  the  hand  of  God,"  resting 
upon  the  bosom  of  its  mother,  through  whose 


32  Two  In  One 

pangs  it  had  been  ushered  into  life,  the  fountain 
of  parental  love  was  opened  in  my  soul  and  I  em- 
braced in  my  inmost  heart  the  mother  and  "our 
child. "  The  tender,  wistful,  longing  look  of  my 
poor,  suffering  wife  smote  me  with  compunction 
for  the  harshness  of  judgment  with  which  I  had 
treated  her  limitations  and  short-comings,  and 
borne  down  under  a  complex  burden  of  emotions, 
I  knelt  at  her  bedside  and  wept  like  a  child.  In 
her  weakness,  she  reached  out  her  hand  and  laid 
it  on  my  head,  gently  stroking  my  forehead.  At 
that  moment  we  came  nearer  together  than  ever 
before. 

The  question  of  the  naming  of  our  baby  was 
the  source  of  some  kindly  controversy.  I  wished 
it  to  bear  the  name  of  its  mother,  Lillian ;  but  she 
contended  for  Roberta,  the  feminine  of  my  own 
name.  We  at  last  compromised  by  naming  it 
Lillian  Roberta,  which  probably  was  most  appro- 
priate, seeing  that  it  proved  to  be  mentally  and 
physically  a  commingling  of  the  qualities  of 
father  and  mother. 

Here  again  we  pass  briefly  over  a  few  years. 
I  continued  with  the  same  church,  and  found  time 
to  write  a  work  which  was  so  orthodox  that  I 
was  in  high  favor  with  my  denomination  as  a 
champion  of  its  faith.  This  work  was  the  logical 
embodiment  of  our  church  theology,  and  was  so 
well  received  by  our  sect  that  I  was  at  once 


Two  In  One  33 

honored  with  the  title  of  D.  D.,  and  invited  to  the 
position  of  didactic  theology  in  our  leading  semi- 
nary of  learning.  My  vanity  was  gratified  and 
I  was  disposed  to  accept  the  position  offered  me. 
But  pending  my  answer  I  was  taken  sick  of 
typhoid  fever,  and  lay  for  weeks  hovering  be- 
tween life  and  death.  In  fact,  at  the  crisis  of 
my  disease  my  conscious  life  passed  from  the  nat- 
ural to  the  spirit  world.  As  I  afterwards 
learned,  my  body  to  all  appearances  was  for  two 
days  lifeless,  except  that  it  retained  a  slight  de- 
gree of  warmth  and  did  not  become  rigid.  During 
this  time  I  was  consciously  existent  as  a  spirit. 

I  seemed  to  be  gradually  drawn  out  of  the  body, 
and  presently  found  myself  at  a  distance  looking 
with  curious  unconcern  at  the  outer  form  of  my- 
self, surrounded  by  my  weeping  wife  and  friends. 

Turning,  I  saw  standing  at  my  side  a  radiant 
being,  who  smilingly  beckoned  me  to  follow  him. 
I  did  so,  experiencing  a  delightful  sense  of  free- 
dom, strength  and  exhilaration,  and  I  exulted  in 
the  thought  that  now  the  sorrows,  pains  and  trials 
of  earth  were  over,  and  I  was  about  to  enter  into 
eternal  peace  and  rest. 

Passing  through  a  sandy  plain,  dotted  here  and 
there  with  scrubby  trees,  cacti,  and  tufts  of 
wiry  grass,  we  came  to  a  lofty  temple,  to  which 
from  all  sides  men  gowned  as  scholars,  with  rolls 
of  manuscript  under  their  arms,  were  hastening. 


34  Two  In  One 

Having  assembled,  a  dignified  looking  person- 
age rose  and  explained  the  object  of  their  meeting. 
They  were  called  he  said  to  discuss  and  conclude 
certain  important  theological  questions  which 
upon  his  statement  I  learned  to  be  those  treated 
in  my  book. 

After  a  prayer  for  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit 
the  various  points  of  that  work  were  taken  up 
seriatim  and  discussed,  and  a  statement  was 
made  of  my  church  doctrines  as  set  forth  therein, 
a  vote  was  taken  affirming  them  and  an  anathema 
pronounced  against  all  who  failed  to  accept  them 
as  truth.  This  was  followed  by  a  prayer  of 
thanksgiving  for  the  wisdom  imparted  and  a 
laudation  of  the  author  by  the  president  of  the 
assembly.  At  this  point,  there  appeared  two 
persons  at  the  door  of  entrance — a  man  and  a 
woman.  That  is  to  say,  they  seemed  to  be  two 
and  yet  one — two  personal  forms  and  one  com- 
mon life. 

All  eyes  were  turned  upon  them  as  they  slowly 
approached  the  speaker's  stand.  Bowing  to  the 
audience,  the  gentleman  addressed  them,  saying, 
"  Peace  to  you.  I  bring  you  tidings  of  great  joy, 
God  is  Love.  Christ,  the  Saviour,  was  Love 's  gift 
to  man."  And  so  far  as  I  remember,  his  dis- 
course continued  in  the  same  general  line  of 
thought.  And  what  shall  I  say  of  his  voice  1  It 
was  love  set  to  music.  There  is  nothing  in  all 


Two  In  One  35 

nature  or  in  the  experience  of  the  natural  man 
that  can  be  compared  to  it,  or  that  would  give 
an  idea  of  its  sweetness  and  power.  What 
effect  it  had  upon  the  rest  of  the  audience  I  can- 
not say,  for  my  entire  being  was  so  absorbed  in 
attention  that  I  became  oblivious  to  my  sur- 
roundings and  to  everything  but  the  speaker  and 
his  companion.  As  he  spoke,  she  turned  her  face 
toward  him  and  their  personalities  seemed  to 
blend  into  one.  It  was  as  if  the  very  essence 
of  love  were  impersonated  in  her  and  of  truth 
in  him  and  that  the  two  were  one,  she  the  love  soul 
and  he  the  body  manifestation. 

It  was  not  what  they  said  in  itself  that  so 
affected  me.  I  was  familiar,  of  course,  with  the 
teachings  of  the  Scriptures  that  God  is  Love,  so 
that  their  language  was  the  setting  forth  of  noth- 
ing new  to  me.  But  I  now,  for  the  first  time, 
got  even  a  glimpse  of  its  full  meaning.  They 
seemed  to  radiate  love.  My  entire  being  was 
flooded  with  light  and  every  fiber  thrilled  with 
love  ineffable.  All  creation  appeared  to  me  as  a 
hymn  of  love  singing,  "Love  is  life,  love  is  peace, 
love  is  joy,  love  is  salvation,  God  is  Love,  to  know 
God  is  to  know  love,  to  love  is  eternal  life." 

The  fiction  of  a  legal  relation  of  man  to  God 
and  of  Christ's  suffering  as  a  substitute  for  man, 
as  a  propitiation  for  man's  sins  or  as  a  satisfac- 
tion of  justice,  which  formed  the  basic  premises 


36  Two  In  One 

of  my  book  disappeared  as  a  dream.  I  saw  that 
I  had  read  the  law  into  the  gospel  and  had  been 
taking  the  shadow  for  the  substance. 

How  long  I  thus  sat  and  drank  in  the  Spirit  of 
truth  and  love  as  it  flowed  to  me  from  those 
angelic  messengers  (for  angelic  I  must  believe 
them  to  have  been)  I  do  not  know.  The  vision 
passed,  if  vision  it  was,  and  I  found  myself  stand- 
ing on  a  barren  plain.  Suddenly  a  shadowy  form 
of  a  woman,  whose  features  I  could  not  discern, 
appeared  before  me  and  in  a  gentle  voice  said: 
"You  do  not  belong  here.  You  have  yet  work 
to  do  whence  you  came.  You  will  return  to 
the  outer  world."  A  cold  wind  arose  seeming 
to  bring  with  it  a  dense  cloud,  pitch  darkness 
overspread  the  heavens,  and  I  became  uncon- 
scious. 

The  next  I  knew  I  was  in  the  body,  as  one 
awakened  from  sleep.  I  do  not  pretend  to  ex- 
plain my  experience.  But  whatever  the  explana- 
tion, it  made  a  lasting  impression  upon  me. 

Partially  recovering  my  health,  I  continued 
preaching,  but  for  the  first  time  in  my  ministerial 
life  I  began  to  be  unsettled  in  my  theology. 
"Salvation,  the  effect  of  character  formed  by 
obedience  to  truth," — words  which  I  remem- 
bered of  the  discourse  heard  in  my  trance-state, 
haunted  me.  After  a  period  of  mental  struggle, 
I  resigned  my  pastorate;  but  my  congregation 


Two  In  One  37 

voted  me  instead  a  few  months'  vacation  for  rest 
and  recuperation. 

I  decided  to  spend  it  at  a  summer  resort  in  the 
mountains  of  Virginia.  It  was  there  my  good 
fortune  to  meet  Professor  N.,  of  Urbana  Univer- 
sity, an  author  of  some  celebrity,  who  was  so- 
journing for  a  time  amid  the  scenes  of  nature, 
with  the  same  quest  in  view  as  myself.  We 
were  thus  intimately  associated.  He  was  a  man 
of  the  most  gentle  and  Christ-like  spirit  that  it 
has  ever  been  my  good  fortune  to  know.  His 
very  presence  was  a  benediction.  His  character 
was  a  revelation  to  me.  Spiritual  truth  was  our 
constant  theme,  and  for  the  first  time  in  my  ex- 
perience I  found  my  logical  methods  of  little  avail. 
He  seemed  to  be  on  the  inside  of  the  temple,  look- 
ing and  speaking  from  a  direct  view  of  its  hidden 
treasures ;  whilst  I  stood  on  the  outside  and  could 
merely  discuss  the  architecture  of  the  building. 
He  dwelt  at  the  heart  of  things,  while  I  could 
penetrate  no  deeper  than  the  cuticle.  He  seemed 
to  possess  a  spiritual  philosophical  key  that  fitted 
every  lock. 

In  the  course  of  our  talks  he  unlocked  door 
after  door  over  which,  by  my  theology,  had  been 
inscribed  "Mystery."  His  fundamental  princi- 
ple was  that  all  phenomena — all  things  of  the 
sense-world — are  but  forms  manifesting  spiritual 
entities  to  which  they  correspond  as  effect  to 


38  Two  In  One 

cause.  He  held  that  the  Bible  has  an  external 
sense  and  an  internal;  the  former  being  but  the 
husk  inclosing  the  latter  as  the  kernel — the  real 
revelation;  and  that  all  its  scientific  facts, 
biographical  and  historical  narratives,  as  well  as 
psalms,  prophecies  and  parables,  are  external  cor- 
respondences of  spiritual  truths,  having  no  sig- 
nificance as  a  revelation  except  in  relation  thereto. 
His  interpretation  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis 
affords  an  illustration.  I  had  thought  of  the 
account  of  creation  there  given  as  a  purely  scien- 
tific cosmogony,  and  from  that  standpoint  had 
written  elaborate  articles  in  church  magazines,  to 
repel  the  attacks  then  being  made  upon  the  Gen- 
esis account  by  the  new  science  of  Geology.  To 
my  surprise,  Professor  N.,  simply  applying  his 
philosophic  key,  afforded  me  an  inside  glimpse  of 
the  spiritual  meaning  of  these  records,  revealing 
a  connected,  consistent  acount  of  man's  evolution 
both  as  a  race  and  as  an  individual,  thus  opening 
up  before  me  a  realm  of  thought  such  as  I  had 
never  before  imagined.  I  was  almost  dazed  with 
the  new  light.  It  was  clear  that  if  he  were 
right,  then  both  the  scientists  and  the  theologians 
were  beating  the  air,  or  setting  up  and  knocking 
down  men  of  straw.  And  that  much  of  it  was 
true  I  knew,  just  as  a  thirsty  man  knows  water 
by  drinking  it.  Strange  to  say,  I  for  the  first 


Two  In  One  39 

time  got  the  idea  of  accepting  for  truth  that  only 
which  shows  itself  to  be  be  true  in  the  light  of 
its  own  rationality,  or  as  spiritually  discerned.  I 
saw  dimly  what  was  meant  by  Christ's  speaking 
not  as  the  Pharisees,  but  as  one  having  authority. 
Thus  I  began  to  take  my  first  step  upward  from 
natural  toward  spiritual  thought.  The  time 
came  all  too  soon  for  me  to  part  with  my  friend, 
and  as  he  took  my  hand  on  departure,  he  handed 
me  a  work  of  his  entitled  "The  Inner  Christian 
Life,"  asking  me  to  read  it  and  write  him  my 
thoughts.  I  promised  to  do  so,  and  could  do  no 
otherwise  than  reciprocate  by  offering  to  send  him 
a  copy  of  my  own  work,  and  soliciting  his  criti- 
cism, although  my  late  mental  changes  had  so 
lowered  my  opinion  of  my  intellectual  offspring 
that  I  would  fain  have  kept  it  out  of  his  sight. 

I  returned  to  my  charge  in  anything  but  an 
enviable  state  of  mind.  The  very  foundations 
of  my  mental  house  were  sinking,  and  its  walls 
crumbling ;  and  the  reading  of  Professor  N.'s  book 
only  tended  to  hasten  the  impending  crash.  The 
range  of  thought  was  a  'distinct  degree  within 
and  above  that  I  had  hitherto  known.  In  its 
thought,  time  and  space  were  eliminated.  My 
mind  was  so  deeply  immersed  in  external,  ma- 
terialistic methods  that  it  was  with  the  greatest 
difficulty  I  could  follow  him.  But  through  Pro- 
fessor N.  and  his  writings  began  with  me  an 


40  Two  In  One 

earnest  effort  to  think  above  time  and  space, 
which  was  continued  with  increasing  success  to 
the  present.  For  a  time,  the  process  was  one 
of  intellectual  crucifixion.  The  tearing  down 
and  destruction  of  the  old  forms  of  thought  was 
one  akin  to  slow  and  painful  death. 

Some  time  after  my  return,  I  wrote  to  Prof.  N. 
as  follows: 

My  Dear  Friend: — 

I  have,  at  your  suggestion,  been  giving  my  chief 
attention  to  Natural  Science — studying  the  Crea- 
tor as  revealed  in  his  works  of  creation.  That 
is  to  say,  I  have  been  gathering  up  the  results  of 
scientific  investigators  and  from  them  as  premises 
deducing  conclusions.  I  don't  know  whether  I 
am  more  surprised  at  my  own  hitherto  low  degree 
of  appreciation  of  God's  revelation  of  himself  in 
nature  or  at  the  failure  of  scientists  to  accept  the 
conclusions  to  which  their  scientific  data  lead.  For 
example,  how  evolutionists  can  fail  to  see  that 
whatever  is  evolved  in  anything  must  have  been 
previously  involved,  I  cannot  understand. 

Life  and  intelligence  can  proceed  only  from  life 
and  intelligence  whatever  be  the  method  of  pro- 
ceedure,  whether  by  an  ages-long  process  or 
otherwise.  In  brief,  that  back  of  all  creation's 
phenomena,  how  a  thinking  being  should  fail  to 


Two  In  One  41 

see  an  intelligent  will  so  and  so  expressing  itself  is 
a  problem.      *     *     * 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  Prof.  N.'s  re- 
sponse: *  *  *  I  am  glad  to  learn  the  outcome 
of  your  scientific  studies.  God  has  given  us  two 
revelations.  One  of  these  in  his  written  Word, 
which  is  the  picturing  of  the  developing  con- 
sciousness of  God  in  man  culminating  in,  and  ex- 
emplified by  Jesus  Christ,  his  full-orbed  manifes- 
tation, the  Word  made  flesh ;  the  other  is  the  por- 
trayal of  the  Divine  attributes  in  nature  or  the 
external  phenomenal  universe. 

The  book  of  nature  has  heretofore  been  com- 
paratively a  sealed  volume,  but  is  now,  through 
science,  being  opened.  In  many  ways  its  teach- 
ings oppose  our  traditional  views  of  God,  of  man 
and  of  God's  relations,  both  to  man  and  nature. 
The  theological  problem  of  the  time  is  the  recon- 
ciliation of  these  two  seemingly  conflicting  reve- 
lations. When,  in  the  process  of  race  unfold- 
ment,  the  realm  of  invisible  substance  and  force 
shall  be  understandingly  correlated  to  the  realm 
of  outward  symbolic  appearances  in  nature  thus 
religion  becoming  scientific  and  science  religious, 
then  "  books  will  be  read  in  brooks,  sermons  in 
stones  and  God  in  everything." 

Perhaps  a  leaf  from  the  book  of  my  own  ex- 


42  Two  In  One 

perience  would,  in  this  connection,  be  of  interest 
to  you. 

As  you  know,  I  came  to  the  Christ  and  Chris- 
tianity from  the  scientific  side  and  groped  my 
way  through  and  from  the  darkness  of  material- 
ism. By  long  and  persistent  study  of  nature's 
phenomena  as  explainable  by  natural  laws,  I 
came  to  conclude  that  the  materialistic  theory  of 
evolution  is  true  and  that  all  nature,  even  in  its 
origins,  is  the  result  of  resident  forces,  and  thus 
sufficient  in  itself  not  only  for  sustentation  but 
for  creation.  The  idea  of  anything  like  a  per- 
sonal Creator  was,  by  my  scientific  thought,  set 
aside  as  an  impertinence. 

Fixing  my  vision  on  the  phenomenal  aspect  of 
things  only  and  taking  the  evidence  of  the  physi- 
cal senses  to  be  substantial  reality,  I  steered  my 
mental  bark  toward  the  desolate  shores  of  blank 
atheism.  But,  ere  long,  in  this  sterile  region, 
my  soul  became  famished.  The  sensual  food 
which  alone  it  afforded  me  was  unsatisfying.  I 
was  perishing  with  hunger.  In  this  extreme 
state  of  destitution,  I  became  conscious  within 
and  beyond  the  clamors  of  sense,  of  a  still  small 
voice  whispering  of  Father  and  home,  bidding  me 
rise  and  return.  The  most  direct  path  of  re- 
turn of  course  would  have  been  by  way  of  the 
affections — the  throwing  myself  at  the  feet  of 
Infinite  Love  and  crying  " Father,  I  have  sinned." 


Two  In  One  43 

But  for  this  I  was  not  yet  prepared.  The  only 
way  that  seemed  open  to  me  was  that  of  philoso- 
phy. Taking  a  hint  from  the  old  adage,  "Know 
thyself, "  my  philosophic  studies  now  began  with 
man — myself  as  a  thinking,  loving,  willing  per- 
sonality. Here  apeared  a  series  of  effects  for 
which  materialism  afforded  no  adequate  cause. 
For  instance,  admit  with  physiologists  that  in 
every  act  of  thought,  emotion  or  will,  there  is  a 
change  in  the  brain  substance  both  chemical  and 
physical,  then  what?  We  have  no  clue  as  to 
how  the  brain  changes  are  related  to  the  mental 
changes.  All  we  know  is  that  brain  cells  pre 
affected  and  thought  apears.  Aladdin 's  lamp  is 
rubbed  and  the  genii  stands  forth. 

Viewed  from  the  physical  side,  there  is  just  as 
much  of  an  intelligible  and  causal  relation  be- 
tween the  two  sets  of  phenomena  in  the  one  case 
as  in  the  other.  And  suppose  a  human  brain 
laid  bare  to  inspection.  An  observer  would  see 
only  the  various  molecular  changes  taking  place. 
Nothing  of  the  thoughts  or  feelings  of  the  sub- 
ject himself  would  appear.  But  a  thinking  per- 
sonality whose  throbbing  brain  was  under  inspec- 
tion would  be  conscious  only  of  his  thoughts  and 
feelings.  On  the  outside,  only  physical  phe- 
nomena; on  the  inside,  only  psychic  phenomena. 

Now,  must  not  this,  I  asked  myself,  necessarily 
be  true  of  nature  also?  Viewed  from  the  out- 


44  Two  In  One 

side  by  the  scientific  observer,  nothing  is  seen, 
nothing  can  be  seen,  there  is  nothing  else  to  be 
seen  but  motion,  material  phenomena;  but  be- 
hind this,  on  the  inside,  must  there  not  be  in  this 
case  also  psychical  phenomena,  consciousness, 
thought,  will,  in  a  word  personality?  As  self- 
conscious  personality  lies  behind  our  own  brain 
phenomena,  so  conscious  thought  and  feeling  will 
lie  behind  nature.  In  this  way  I  worked  my 
way  back  to  a  realization  of  a  heart  and  mind, 
a  love  and  intelligence  in  and  above  nature. 

Thus  was  my  first  and  most  difficult  step  o£ 
return  taken.  The  rest  of  the  way  was  compara- 
tively easy. 

In  my  philosophical  investigations  into  the  es- 
sential constitution  of  matter,  I  soon  came  to  the 
utter  rejection  of  its  independent  existence  and 
of  the  real  efficient  agency  of  natural  forces  and 
to  see  the  direct  Divine  agency  in  all  phenomena. 
Nature  came  to  be  not  less  real,  but  God,  the 
supreme  reality,  the  all-in-all  in  nature.  The 
external  world  became  the  objectified  modes  of 
the  mind  of  God  through  humanity,  in  general,  and 
the  modes  of  the  Divine  mind  in  and  through  any 
particular  observer  in  his  relations  to  the  rest  of 
humanity. 

Finally,  the  way  was  cleared  for  the  frank  re- 
ception of  the  truth  of  man's  eternal,  spiritual 
inherency  in  God,  of  phenomena  as  a  means  of 


Two  In  One  45 

his  self-conscious  individuality  and  of  the  Christ 
as  the  ideal  man  and  the  Divine  image  in  man, 
to  whose  perfectness  all  are  destined  to  attain. 
And  here  I  found  peace  and  rest. 
Yours  for  the  truth, 

N. 

P.  S. — I  leave  in  a  few  days  on  a  trip  to  Europe 
— will  write  you  soon  again. 

In  the  Providence  of  God,  I  was  destined  never 
to  receive  that  promised  letter.  The  vessel, c  *  The 
Minnetonka,"  on  which  my  beloved  friend  and 
teacher  embarked,  was  wrecked.  Thus  he  whom 
I  had  learned  so  dearly  to  love,  my  father  in 
the  gospel  of  Spiritual  truth,  through  whose  in- 
structions I  was  started  on  my  way  to  the  light 
and  to  whom  I  was  so  fondly  looking  for  future 
aid,  suddenly  passed  from  mortal  sight  and  left 
in  my  life  a  great  blank. 

[Remark.]  The  subsequent  experiences  of  the 
author  show  that  the  removal  for  the  time,  of 
Prof.  N.  from  his  sense  vision  was  a  means  of 
enabling  his  friend  to  render  him  only  the 
greater  service,  as  will  be  seen  further  on  in  this 
narrative  of  his  experiences. 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  next  twenty  years  of  my  life  might  appro- 
priately be  designated  the  student  period;  for  it 
was  devoted  to  the  most  earnest  investigation  of 
every  subject,  of  every  work,  and  in  every  line  of 
thought  that  promised  light  on  the  great  ques- 
tions before  me.  The  problems  which  pressed 
upon  me  for  solution  were  such  as  these, — What 
is  God?  What  is  Man?  What  is  the  essential 
constitution  of  the  external  world?  What  are 
our  relations  to  God  and  to  nature  ?  What  is  the 
object  of  creation?  What  is  the  specific  purpose 
of  our  world-race  in  its  relations  to  other  humani- 
ties in  the  universe?  Whence  and  wherefore  and 
what  is  evil?  Why  is  it  permitted  to  invade  our 
race?  What  is  to  be  the  outcome  of  our  race 
history,  or  the  final  destiny  of  man?  Who  is  the 
Christ?  What  are  his  relations,  through  our 
world,  to  other  worlds  ? — These  and  cognate  ques- 
tions occupied  my  mind. 

It  will  be  observed  that  they  embrace  the  en- 
tire range  of  thought  and  knowledge — Philoso- 
phy, Science,  History,  Theology,  etc. 

My  method  in  the  investigation  of  any  sub- 
ject was,  first  to  read  up  its  literature,  thus 


48  Two  In  One 

learning  what  men  had  thought  and  written  upon 
it;  then  by  long  and  deep  meditation,  seek  such 
a  conclusion  as  would  harmonize  with  all  other 
truth.  It  became  a  habit  with  me  steadily  to  set 
my  mind  in  a  receptive  attitude,  looking  to  God 
for  light  with  the  full  assurance  that  light  would 
come.  And  I  was  never  disappointed.  My 
prayer  was  always,  to  me,  satisfactorily  answered. 
At  some  favored  moment  of  deep  interior  thought, 
the  senses  being  held  in  repose  and  the  inner  eye 
of  rational  intuition  opened,  the  truth  would 
start  out  as  if  embodied  before  me,  and  for  that 
truth  at  that  stage  of  my  development,  I  needed 
no  further  inquiry.  I  saw  and  therefore  knew. 

Among  theearliest  of  my  inquiries  was,  "What 
is  the  end  of  creation,  and  especially  the  object 
of  our  humanity  in  its  relation  to  other  world- 
races  in  the  universe?"  I  clearly  saw  that  the 
humanities  of  the  various  worlds  of  the  universe 
are  in  some  sort  the  Divine  in  self-individualiza- 
tion,  and  hence  that  each  world-race  bears  a  rela- 
tion to  the  Creator  and  to  all  other  humanities 
somewhat  similar  to  that  of  the  different  organs 
to  the  entire  body. 

Now  as  each  organ  of  the  body  sustains  a  spe- 
cific relation  to  the  whole  and  performs  a  specific 
function  in  the  body,  so  similarly  each  planetary 
humanity  bears  a  specific  relation  to,  and  has  a 
specific  use  in  the  Grand  Man  of  the  universe. 


Two  In  One  49 

What  is  the  use,  in  the  universe,  of  our  planet? 
was  the  problem  to  which  I  addressed  myself. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  it  is  only  as  we  know  the 
end  for  which  anything  exists  that  we  can  get 
any  clear  or  complete  conception  of  it.  Take  a 
watch  for  example.  It  is  only  as  we  view  it  in 
its  use  as  a  time  keeper  that  its  various  parts 
fall  into  place  and  are  properly  understood.  The 
same  is  true  of  our  world  or  any  other,  or  of  all 
worlds.  The  song  of  the  angels  at  the  birth  of 
Christ,  "Glory  to  God  in  the  Highest,"  signifies 
that  by  that  event  the  way  was  opened  for  a 
greater  manifestation  of  the  Divine  in  the  highest 
realms  of  being,  and  that,  therefore,  it  was  an 
event  in  which  the  entire  universe  had  a  vital 
interest. 

My  mind  being  imbued  with  this  thought,  and 
seeking  whatever  light  might  come  to  me  on  the 
subject,  in  reading  the  original  text  of  Paul's 
Euistle  to  the  Ephesians,  I  happened  upon  what 
seems  to  me  a  confirmation  of  the  above  view  of 
the  Divine  incarnation  in  Christ,  in  the  true  ren- 
dering of  the  3rd  chapter,  9th  and  10th  verses 
of  that  book.  The  language  is:  "Who  (God) 
created  all  things  to  the  intent  that  now  unto 
principalities  and  powers  in  the  heavens,  might 
be  made  known  through  the  church,  the  mani- 
fold wisdom  of  God,  according  to  the  eternal  pur- 
pose which  he  purposed  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord. ' ' 


50  Two  In  One 

The  Apostle  is  here  speaking  of  a  great  mystery 
which,  having  been  hidden  in  times  past,  though 
predicted  through  the  prophets,  was  now  revealed 
in  the  incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  was  the 
mystery  which  Peter  says  the  angels  desired  to 
look  into,  that  wonderful  revelation  of  God  which 
was  to  come  to  the  universe  through  our  world  \ 
and  of  which,  at  the  laying  of  the  foundations  of 
our  earth,  "the  morning  stars  sang  together  and 
the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy,"  and  which  the 
angels  had  celebrated  at  Christ's  birth.  The 
Apostle  here  says  in  terms  as  plain  as  speech  can 
be  framed,  that  this  world  (our  race)  was  created 
in  order  that  through  and  in  us  there  might  be 
a  Divine  incarnation  with  reference  to  the  more 
complete  manifestation  of  God's  wisdom  to  the 
principalities  and  powers  in  the  heavens— or  to 
other  peoples  of  the  universe. 

This  being  true,  it  follows  that  the  coming  of 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  center  around  which  all  things 
in  our  world's  ongoings  revolve  and  from  which 
all  truth  relating  to  our  humanity  must  be 
viewed.  It  is  the  pivotal  point  of  history — the 
point  towards  which,  antecedent  to  Christ's  ap- 
pearing, all  our  historical  evolution  looked  for- 
ward, and  for  which  such  evolution  was  a  prepara- 
tion; and  it  is  the  point  wfee^e  all  subsequent 
evolution  towards  race  perfection  has  flowed  as  a 
stream  from  its  fountai 


Two  In  One  51 

It  follows  also  that  such  being  the  end  of  our 
race  development,  the  introduction  of  evil  as  the 
prime  factor  of  our  race  experiences  was  not  an 
undesigned  mar-plot,  but  had  its  use  in  the  grand 
consummation  towards  which  all  has  been  moving 
from  the  beginning,  viz.,  the  indwelling  of  the 
Divine  life  in  the  very  outermost  bounds  of  the 
sense-consciousness  of  all — not  only  of  Adam's 
race  but  of  the  entire  universe. 

This  grand  view  of  the  sublime  tragedy  enacted 
on  our  little  orb,  viz.,  the  Divine  incarnation  with 
reference  to  universal  ends,  has  been  the  cardinal 
principle  guiding  me  in  all  my  investigations — 
that  with  which  I  have  assumed  that  all  facts, 
theories  and  Biblical  interpretations  must  har- 
monize. This  thought  has  determined  the  archi- 
tectural form  of  my  mental  building,  and  the 
standard  for  the  testing  of  the  material  entering 
into  the  structure.  Whatever  has  not  fitted  in 
with  this  general  plan  has  been  at  once  rejected 
as  untrue.  Taking  my  stand  at  this  central 
point,  viz.,  the  Divine  incarnation  as  the  prime 
end  of  our  existence  as  a  race  and  its  final  result 
in  bringing  God  to  be  the  All-in-All,  and  guided 
by  the  principle  that  nothing  can  be  true  which 
contravenes  the  doctrine  of  God's  perfectness  as 
Infinite  Love,  Wisdom  and  Power,  I  was  led  to 
make  excursions  out  upon  every  line  of  thought, 
for  the  time  being  centralizing  all  my  mind's  pow- 


52  Two  In  One 

ers  upon  the  subject  in  hand,  and  as  seen  in  that 
particular  line  of  vision,  then  afterwards  return- 
ing to  my  Christ-center  for  the  correction  of  my 
bearings,  and  conforming  the  knowledge  acquired 
to  my  standard  principles  of  truth. 

Why  I  was  giving  so  many  years  to  these  in- 
vestigations I  did  not  at  the  time  understand.  I 
was  impelled,  by  an  irresistible  impulse,  to  learn 
and  know.  There  was  apparently  no  practical 
personal  advantage  to  myself  arising  out  of  such 
knowledge  acquisitions,  and  there  were  decided 
disadvantages  from  a  worldly  point  of  view. 

At  first,  I  was  fired  with  a  very  earnest  zeal, 
by  tongue  and  pen,  to  give  the  truth  as  seen  by 
me  to  others;  but  met  with  only  disappointment. 
My  thought  was  out  of  focus  with  the  present 
mental  status  of  the  world.  Again  and  again 
I  said,  "I  will  cease  my  attempts  to  solve  mys- 
teries in  which  the  world  takes  no  interest,  be- 
cause supposed  to  be  unknowable,  and  bring  my 
thought  into  such  relation  to  the  present  age  as 
to  be  of  some  practical  use  to  my  fellow  man; 
and,  at  the  same  time,  secure  those  material  ad- 
vantages, financially  and  socially,  for  myself  and 
family  which  my  talents  directed  in  channels  ap- 
preciated by  the  world  will  naturally  gain.  With 
this  end  in  view,  I  at  various  times  forced  myself 
to  stop  writing  and  thinking  on  these  abstruse 
subjects,  and  made  the  effort  again  to  ecclesiastify 


Two  In  One  53 

myself  and  take  a  church  pastorate,  or  to  enter 
into  some  business  pursuit.  But  all  to  no  pur- 
pose. My  mania  (or  lust)  for  knowing,  as  it 
seemed  just  for  the  sake  of  knowing,  would 
sieze  me,  and  I  would  find  myself  again  borne 
along  on  its  resistless  and  restless  tide. 

It  was  not  that  I  was  unaware  of  the  fact  that 
truth  unembodied  in  character  by  being  joined 
with  its  dual  good  through  obedience,  is  not  only 
valueless  in  the  formation  of  permanent  character, 
but  is  actually  a  source  of  danger  and  condemna- 
tion to  its  possessor;  yet  I  persisted  in  the  face 
of  this  knowledge. 

I  suffered  the  usual  consequences  of  truth  in 
the  intellect  not  united  in  marriage  with  good  in 
the  affections.  I  became  "puffed  up."  Just 
as  previously,  flatteries  and  worldly  prosperity 
nurtured  my  pride,  so  now  my  mental  acquisitions 
had  the  same  effect.  I  felt  (if  I  did  not  say) 
with  the  Pharisee,  "I  thank  Thee,  Lord,  that  I 
am  not  as  other  men  are,  or  even  as  this  publi- 
can." To  know  truth  was  to  me  the  prime  end 
of  existence.  My  spiritual  state  was  that  of  a 
cold,  uncharitable  critic  of  the  limitations  in 
knowledge  of  other  men.  It  will  be  readily  in- 
ferred that  my  lack  of  harmony  with  my  environ- 
ment soon  reduced  me  to  poverty.  This  to  myself 
was  a  small  matter ;  but  on  account  of  my  family 
it  was  a  sore  trial.  My  wife,  not  sympathizing 


54  Two  In  One 

with  nor  understanding  me,  naturally  regarded 
me  as  culpably  negligent  of  duty,  and  responsible 
for  all  her  privations. 

But  my  little  Roberta  grew  up  to  be  a  great 
comfort  me.  She  combined,  in  harmonious 
unity,  the  best  and  strongest  qualities  of  both  her 
father  and  mother.  Her  life  as  a  child  had  been 
a  hard  one,  and  she  exemplified  the  truth  of 
Solomon's  statement  that  it  is  good  to  bear  the 
yoke  in  youth.  Although  she  was  cut  off  from 
many  of  the  sources  of  pleasure  that  belong  of 
right  to  normal  childhood  and  youth,  she  was 
endowed  with  an  unusual  ability  to  rise  superior 
to  circumstances  and  environments.  Her  indi- 
viduality was  very  strongly  marked,  and,  from 
resources  within  herself,  she  could  extract  con- 
tentment and  happiness  from  the  most  unpro- 
pitious  surroundings. 

Her  mental  progress  was  rapid,  and  her  heart 
kept  pace  with  her  mind.  She  became  my 
amanuensis,  and  her  interest  in  the  most  abstruse 
questions  was  to  me  a  source  of  constant  and 
pleasurable  surprise.  Her  love  and  reverence  for 
her  father,  and  her  unwavering  faith  in  him  under 
the  most  trying  conditions  amounted  almost  to 
idolatry. 

Poor  child!  From  the  human  point  of  view, 
your  devotion  was  in  one  way  poorly  rewarded, 


Two  In  One  55 

seeing  that  it  led  you  along  so  thorny  a  road  of 
suffering. 

About  the  twentieth  year  of  her  age,  I  came  to 
the  experimental  study  of  spiritualism.  And  here 
I  would  fain  draw  a  veil  over  my  life,  for  it  was 
a  period  of  darkness  and  delusion,  in  which  the 
highest  of  all  truths  was  dragged  down  into  the 
mire  of  sense.  But  I  see  now  that  this  sad  ex- 
perience and  its  results  were  the  natural  conse- 
quences of  my  heredity,  nurtured  by  my  past  life, 
and  were  the  necessary  means,  therefore,  of  re- 
vealing to  me  my  true  self  and  delivering  me 
from  my  pride  and  self-love. 

I  had  learned  from  Swedenborg  that  the  spirit- 
ual world,  the  immediate  receptacle  of  all  de- 
parted spirits  of  men,  both  good  and  evil,  stands 
in  vital  relation  with  this  natural  world,  and  that 
although  the  veil  separating  the  two  realms  may 
be  drawn  aside  and  communication  established, 
yet  such  a  course  is  attended  with  great  danger. 
The  following  quotation  will  suffice  here  to  in- 
dicate his  teaching: 

"Many  persons  are  under  the  belief  that  man 
may  be  taught  by  God  by  means  of  spirits  speak- 
ing with  him.  But  those  who  believe  this,  and 
foster  the  belief  in  their  will,  are  not  aware  that 
it  is  connected  with  danger  to  their  souls.  Man 
is,  as  to  his  spirit,  as  long  as  he  lives  in  the 
world,  in  the  midst  of  spirits;  but  the  spirits  are 


56  Two  In  One 

not  aware  that  they  are  near  man,  nor  is  man 
aware  that  he  is  in  connection  with  spirits.  The 
reason  is,  that  they  are  conjoined  immediately  as 
to  the  affections  of  the  will,  and  mediately  as  to 
the  thoughts  of  the  understanding ;  for  man  thinks 
naturally,  but  spirits  think  spiritually;  and  fur- 
ther, natural  thought  and  spiritual  thought  make 
one  only  by  correspondences.  It  is  this  that 
prevents  men  and  spirits  from  knowing  anything 
of  each  other.  But  as  soon  as  spirits  begin  to 
speak  with  man,  they  leave  their  own  spiritual 
state  and  enter  into  man's  natural  state;  and 
being  then  aware  that  they  are  with  man,  they 
conjoin  themselves  with  the  thoughts  of  his  af- 
fection, and  from  them  converse  with  him.  They 
cannot  enter  into  anything  but  man's  natural 
state,  for  similar  affection  with  the  thought  de- 
rived from  it  effects  conjunction  in  all  cases,  but 
dissimilar  affection  causes  separation.  It  is  from 
this  circumstance  that  when  a  spirit  speaks,  he  is 
in  the  same  principles  as  the  man  with  whom  he 
speaks,  whether  those  principles  are  true  or 
false ;  and  further,  that  he  calls  them  into  activity, 
and  by  means  of  his  own  affection  conjoined  to 
that  of  the  man  strongly  confirms  them.  Hence 
it  is  evident  that  only  similar  spirits  speak  with 
man,  or  operate  manifestly  upon  him;  for  mani- 
fest operation  coincides  with  speech.  For  this 
reason,  none  but  enthusiastic  spirits  speak  with 


Two  In  One  57 

enthusiasts;  etc.  *  *  *  All  spirits  that  speak 
with  man  were  once  in  the  world,  and  were  then 
of  the  same  character.  I  have  been  able  by 
repeated  experience  to  know  that  such  is  the 
case.  And  what,  morover,  is  ridiculous  is,  that 
when  a  man  imagines  that  the  spirit  speaking 
with  him,  or  operating  upon  him,  is  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  spirit  also  himself  believes  that  he  is 
so.  This  is  common  in  the  case  of  enthusiastic 
spirits.  The  danger  is  thus  evident  to  which  a 
man  is  exposed  who  speaks  with  spirits,  or  mani- 
festly perceives  their  operation.  For  he  is 
ignorant  of  the  quality  of  his  affection,  whether 
it  is  good  or  evil,  or  with  what  other  affections 
it  is  conjoined;  and  if  he  has  a  conceit  of  his  own 
intelligence,  the  spirit  humors  every  thought 
which  proceeds  from  his  affection.  So  also  if 
any  one  has  a  partiality  for  certain  principles 
fanned  into  flame  by  any  fire  existing  amongst 
those  who  are  not  in  truths  from  any  genuine 
affection,  the  consequences  are  similar.  For  when 
a  spirit  from  a  similar  affection  humors  a  man's 
thoughts  or  principles,  the  one  then  leads  the 
other,  like  the  blind  leading  the  blind,  until  they 
both  fall  intn  the  ditch.  The  Pythonic  diviners 
— that  is,  those  who  were  believed  to  be  inspired 
by  Apollo,  the  Pythian  god — were  formerly  of 
this  description;  the  Magi  also  in  Egypt  and 
Babel;  and  on  account  of  their  conversing  with 


58  Two  In  One 

spirits,  and  the  operation  of  the  spirits  upon  them 
being  openly  felt,  were  both  called  wise.  But  it 
was  by  this  means  that  the  worship  of  God  was 
converted  into  the  worship  of  demons,  and  the 
church  perished.  Such  means  of  intercourse 
,were  accordingly  forbidden  to  the  children  of 
Israel  on  pain  of  death." 

This  I  had  read  and  believed,  but  on  the  prin- 
ciple that  ' 'fools  rush  in  where  angels  fear  to 
tread, "  or  in  accordance  with  that  other  proverb, 
"Experience  teaches  a  dear  school,  but  fools  will 
learn  in  no  other, "  blinded  by  presumption  and 
impelled  by  curiosity,  I  by  opening  myself  to 
conscious  spirit  influx  rashly  steped  down  into 
this  whirlpool  of  delusion.  I  found  that  I  was, 
as  the  phrase  goes,  "mediumistic,"  and  that  I 
could  throw  my  voluntary  nature  into  such  a 
state  of  passivity  as  to  allow  my  hand  to  be  used 
in  writing.  The  influx  to  which  I  thus  sub- 
jected myself  was  mentally  exciting  and  sensu- 
ously exhilarating.  I  came  to  talk  with  spirits 
— professed  philosophers,  poets,  statesmen,  etc., 
as  familiarly  as  if  they  were  present  in  the  flesh. 
Their  utterances  were  all  naturally  in  the  way  of 
flattery.  That  is,  they  coming  into  my  sphere 
of  thought  imbibed  my  egotism,  and  were  im- 
pelled to  speak  accordingly.  My  motive  at 
first  was  that  of  experimental  investigation,  but 
as  I  gradually  passed  under  the  psychic  influence 


Two  in  One  *    59 

whose  influx  I  had  invited,  that  motive  changed 
to  a  desire  for  the  development  and  exercise  of 
occult  powers. 

I  became  possessed  with  the  idea  that  a  band 
of  superior  intelligences  were  allied  with  and 
operating  through  me,  and  I  fondly  expected  won- 
derful results  in  the  way  of  increased  power  and 
influence. 

My  wife  and  daughter  also  fell  under  the  do- 
minion of  the  insane  spell  that  enthralled  me, 
both  becoming  trance  mediums.  Through  them 
and  through  my  own  involuntary  writing,  we 
held  constant  communication  with  what  pur- 
ported to  be  the  great  and  the  good  of  all  past 
ages  as  well  as  with  departed  friends. 

We  were  led  away  into  all  sorts  of  falsities,  the 
most  dangerous  of  which  pertained  to  sex-rela- 
tions. By  invitation,  a  celebrated  lecturer  with 
his  wife  visited  us  and  delivered  a  series  of  lec- 
tures. My  own  family  and  all  the  people  with 
whom  we  were  associated  were  completely  cap- 
tivated by  them.  They  preached  the  doctrine 
of  sexual  affinity,  declaiming  in  unmeasured  terms 
against  the  unholiness  of  the  marriage  relation  be- 
tween any  other  than  what  they  termed  soul 
mates.  Sexual  attraction  being  the  determining 
factor  as  to  who  is  and  who  is  not  one's  affinity, 
and  it  not  being  at  all  unusual  for  a  husband  or 
a  wife  to  find  some  other  woman  or  man  more 


60  Two  In  One 

attractive  than  the  consort,  the  tendency  of  such 
doctrine  is  naturally  to  break  up  existing  rela- 
tions in  the  search  for  the  soul  mate.  Thus  to 
their  awful  detriment,  do  the  victims  of  this 
dreadful  folly  profane  the  holiest  principle  of 
man's  nature,  by  dragging  it  down  into  the  mire 
of  sense. 

Our  lecturer  and  his  wife  (or  the  woman  with 
him)  set  themselves  up  as  an  example  to  be  fol- 
lowed. They  having  discovered  their  affinitized 
relation  had  separated  from  their  former  married 
partners. 

The  evil  seeds  sown  in  the  hearts  of  our  little 
band  speedily  sprang  up,  and  bore  their  bitter 
fruits.  Sexual  passion  became  the  standard  of 
morality  among  us,  marriage  became  a  mockery, 
and  more  than  one  of  our  households  were  broken 
up.  Under  the  inspiration  of  this  baleful  doc- 
trine, my  wife  and  I,  without  deliberate  inten- 
tion of  separating,  gave  ourselves  over  to  a  free- 
dom of  thought  and  bearing  toward  others  which 
soon  led  us  asunder,  each  forming  a  violent  at- 
tachment to  another  supposed  more  congenial 
spirit.  Though  sinning  deeply,  we  were  merci- 
fully preserved  from  any  overt  act  of  criminality. 

Our  daughter  married  an  adventurer,  who  soon 
abandoned  her,  as  we  afterwards  learned  he  had 
abandoned  other  women,  in  his  search  for  his 
affinity.  By  this  calamity,  which  we  had  been 


Two  In  One  61 

the  means  of  bringing  upon  our  beloved  child, 
and  by  the  direful  domestic  tragedies  taking  place 
around  us,  we  were  finally  awakened  from  our 
insane  dream,  and  shrinking  with  horror  from  the 
pit  into  which  we  had  fallen,  turned  again  to  each 
other  in  the  endeavor  to  atone  for  the  past  by  a 
more  intense  mutual  love  and  devotion  in  the 
future.  Each  looking  for  the  harmonies  instead 
of  the  discords  between  us,  we  were  surprised  to 
find  how  little  there  really  was,  after  all,  of  dis- 
agreement in  those  things  which  make  up  the  es- 
sentials of  a  happy  life. 

But  our  new-found  blessedness  was  short-lived. 
My  poor  Lillian!  Her  daughter's  troubles  and 
(as  she  felt  it)  her  own  disgraceful  experience 
proved  too  much  for  her.  She  gradually  declined 
in  health  and  peacefully  passed  away  from  our 
sight.  Alas !  Alas !  As  I  gazed  upon  those  dear 
lifeless  features,  how  sad  my  memories!  How 
I  had  failed  to  appreciate  her;  how  little  charity 
I  had  exercised;  comparatively  how  little  happi- 
ness I  had  given  her,  and  how  much  suffering 
caused  her! 

What  a  return  I  had  made  to  that  gentle,  child- 
like nature  who  in  the  prime  of  her  youth  and 
beauty  had  ventured  her  whole  happiness  in  my 
keeping !  How  weak  and  erring  is  man  when  left 
to  his  own  selfish  nature! 

It  now  became  my  supreme  effort  to  undo  the 


62  Two  In  One 

sad  effects  of  the  errors  into  which  I  and  the  peo- 
ple connected  with  me  had  fallen.  To  my  horror, 
I  found  that  in  the  surrender  of  my  will  I  had 
become  the  slave  of  the  psychic  forces  operating 
through  me,  and  that  I  was  powerless  in  my  own 
strength  to  break  my  chains  I  had  lapsed  into 
a  state  of  passivity  resultant  from  a  partial  par- 
alysis of  my  voluntary  nature,  and  it  required  the 
utmost  effort  to  bring  my  mind  aggressively  to 
bear  on  any  subject  of  thought  or  matter  of  busi- 
ness. But  seeking  aid  from  above,  after  a  pro- 
longed struggle,  I  succeeded  in  once  more  attain- 
ing freedom  in  the  use  of  my  own  powers. 

I  had  theoretically  known  before  that  the 
Divinest  of  all  gifts  to  man — that  which  makes 
him  to  be  man — and  therefore,  that  which  the 
Creator  most  sedulously  guards  against  invasion, 
is  freedom;  and  now,  at  a  fearful  cost,  I  had  ex- 
perimentally proved  it.  I  had  learned  that  to 
yield  one's  personality  to  the  control  of  another, 
whether  of  man  or  spirit,  whether  by  mesmeric  or 
spiritualistic  appliance,  is  to  give  up  the  priceless 
jewel  of  manhood. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

By  these  visitations  of  penalty,  I  was  awakened 
from  my  error,  as  if  from  a  troubled  dream.  Like 
the  prodigal,  I  came  to  myself.  In  the  grave  of 
my  wife,  I  buried  my  former  mental  self-suf- 
ficiency, with  its  foolish  pride  and  vain  ambition. 
I  stood  as  a  leafless,  branchless  trunk,  rent  by  the 
lightning  stroke.  I  could  not  then  understand 
the  meaning  of  my  calamities.  I  was  conscious 
that  I  had  not  intentionally  done  wrong.  My 
error  was  more  of  the  head  than  of  the  heart; 
I  was  deluded  but  acted  conscientiously  under 
that  delusion. 

In  meditation  on  these  fiery  trials,  I  was 
brought  to  see  clearly  that  all  suffering  is  but  the 
legitimate  result  of  our  past  lives  considered  in 
our  entire  relations  to  humanity  reaching  back 
from  the  present  to  our  heredity  in  the  remotest 
past;  and  that  hence  I  was  bearing  the  penalty 
of  my  father's  sins,  as  well  as  that  of  my  own. 
I  saw  that  such  suffering  or  penalty  is  only  the 
working  of  the  eternal  law  of  evil's  inevitable 
destruction,  and  is  the  Divine  pledge  of  the 
eventual  freedom  and  perfectness  of  all  humanity 
in  God.  Evil  bears  within  it  the  seeds  of  its  own 
destruction.  God  alone  is  eternal.  It  was 
clear  to  me  that  the  Divine  perfections  demand 
that  all  evil  and  suffering  have  reference  to  and 


64  Two  In  One 

result  in  good.  If  this  were  not  true,  then  God  is 
not  Love,  or  He  is  not  Wisdom  and  Power.  The 
meaning  of  Christ's  words  to  Simon  concerning 
Mary  Magdalen  came  to  me  in  greater  fullness 
than  ever  before,  "She  loves  much,  she  is  forgiven 
much,"  and  I  was  made  to  understand  as  never 
before  the  universal  principle  of  God's  dealings 
with  evil  as  illustrated  in  the  Parable  of  the 
Prodigal  Son.  We  all,  like  him,  depart  from 
our  Father's  house  and  waste  our  substance  in 
riotous  living;  but  sooner  or  later,  either  here  or 
hereafter,  we  shall  awake  and  return — some  by 
repentance  and  regeneration;  others,  who  have 
become  fixed  forms  of  evil,  by  what  is  termed  in 
the  Scriptures  the  second  death.  This  second 
death  will  consist  of  a  gradual  disintegration  of 
the  life  of  the  character  built  up  of  falsity  and 
delusion  which  (to  the  consciousness  of  the  sub- 
ject) is  an  actual  dying.  In  other  words,  the 
old  perverted  natural  man  must  be  eliminated, 
and  the  new  Divine  man  must  take  his  place, 
either  by  the  gradual  process  of  daily  dying 
(as  the  Apostle  puts  it)  in  the  process  of  regen- 
eration in  this  life,  or  in  the  consuming  fires  of 
inherent  lust  in  the  age  to  come. 

And  further,  I  was  enabled  to  see  (0,  what  un- 
speakable joy  this  thought  afforded  me!)  that 
by  the  working  of  the  eternal  law  of  Justice  re- 
lating each  person  to  another,  I  would  be  en- 


Two  In  One  65 

abled  and  privileged,  somehow,  some  time,  to 
compensate  the  victims  of  my  folly  for  all  the 
evil  and  suffering  which  my  errors  had  caused. 

Thus  seeing  that  the  afflictions  of  both  myself 
and  of  those  connected  with  me,  were  "working 
out  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of 
glory/'  I  was  enabled  to  rejoice.  The  immediate 
result  was  to  bring  me  into  a  deeper  and  fuller 
consciousness  of  God. 

But  my  heart  was  sore  pained  for  Roberta.  She 
seemed  as  one  cast  forth  upon  a  stormy  sea,  with 
nothing  to  bear  her  up  from  sinking  into  its 
depths.  Her  face  wore  a  frightened  look,  as 
that  of  a  hunted  animal.  I  knew  not  what  to 
do,  and  could  only  look  to  heaven  for  light  and 
help. 

My  way  was  soon  shown  we  through  the  action 
of  Roberta  herself.  One  day  she  came  to  me  and 
flung  herself  down  at  my  knee.  Burying  her  face 
in  her  hands,  she  cried,  "0,  father,  I  must  leave 
this  dreadful  place.  Please  let  us  go!" 

"Certainly,  my  dear,"  I  replied,  "Where  shall 
we  go?" 

"Anywhere!  I  would  like  to  hide  myself  in 
the  woods,  away  from  everybody." 

"How  would  you  like  to  go  to  California?" 
I  asked. 

"There,  or  anywhere,  only  so  I  am  out  of  sight 
of  the  world." 


66  Two  In  One 

"Then  to  California  we  shall  go,  my  dear,  and 
find  such  a  place  as  you  desire. " 

And  so,  arranging  the  few  matters  necessary,, 
we  like  pilgrims,  not  knowing  where  our  journey 
would  end,  bade  farewell  to  the  scenes  of  our  sor- 
rows, our  last  act  being  to  weep  together  over 
the  grave  of  her  who  had  been  to  us,  respectively,, 
wife  and  mother. 

I  gladly  marked  a  change  for  the  better  at 
once,  in  my  dear  child.  Nestling  down  at  my 
side  in  the  cars,  she  said,  "My  precious  old  papa, 
I  am  going  to  make  a  foolish  request  of  you." 

"Well,  pet,  say  on.  I  will  grant  anything  you 
wish,  if  it  will  help  you  back  to  the  sunshine." 

"It  is  this.  I  want  us  to  change  our  names. 
Now  don't  start;  I've  thought  it  all  out,  and  it 
isn't  so  dreadful.  Your  second  name  is  Mc- 
Nair.  Instead  of  Robert  M.  Morven,  I  want  you 
to  be  Robert  and  I  Roberta  McNair.  Thus  we 
shall  easily  hide  ourselves  from  the  world." 

At  first  I  shrank  from  the  thought,  but  fearing 
my  dissent  might  prove  injurious  to  her,  I  said, 
"Very  well,  my  darling,  be  it  as  you  wish.  Mc- 
Nair we  shall  be." 

To  mere  human  vision,  my  condition  at  this- 
time  seemed  almost  desperate.  I  was  physically 
and  mentally  depressed,  with  a  helpless  daughter 
on  my  hands  requiring  the  tenderest  care  and  on 
my  way  to  a  land  of  strangers,  without  home  or 


Two  In  One  67 

friends  or  money.  Yet  I  was  singularly  content 
and  hopeful.  I  had  so  fully  cast  my  care  upon 
Him  who  "heareth  the  young  ravens  when  they 
cry"  and  who  hath  said,  "Seek  ye  first  the  King- 
dom of  God,  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added," 
that  all  doubts  and  fears  were  dissipated,  and 
even  a  feeling  of  joyful  exhilaration  possessed  me. 

Events  proved  that  my  confidence  was  well 
grounded.  Amongst  our  travelling  companions, 
was  a  Mr.  Clark,  a  pleasant,  genial  gentleman  of 
perhaps  sixty  years  of  age.  He  and  I  became 
sufficiently  intimate  to  exchange  confidences  to  a 
limited  extent,  and  I  intimated  to  him  the  desire 
of  my  daughter  to  find  a  home  in  some  secluded 
spot. 

4 'Why,  my  dear  sir,"  he  exclaimed,  "I  have 
just  the  place  for  you.  It  is  a  small  farm  in  a 
valley  of  the  Sierras.  There  is  a  substantial 
cottage  on  the  place,  comfortably  furnished,  just 
awaiting  some  one  to  occupy  it.  You  are  wel- 
come to  take  your  daughter  there,  and  remain  as 
long  as  you  wish.  I  live  in  the  city,  and  seldom 
go  out  to  my  ranch.  In  fact  I  only  spend  a 
brief  time  there  in  the  summer,  and  1  would  like 
co  have  some  reliable  person  to  take  general 
charge  of  matters,  and  direct  the  two  Chinamen 
employed  on  the  place." 

So  it  was  settled  that  we  should  make  our 
home  at  the  place  of  Mr.  Clark,  and  on  arriving 


68  Two  In  One 

we  found  it  to  be  just  the  ideal  spot  for  which  we 
were  longing.  Here,  alone  with  Nature,  "far 
from  the  madding  crowd, "  free  from  molestation, 
we  abode  five  pleasant  years.  Roberta  soon  be- 
came interested  in  poultry  and  dairy  cares;  and 
I  gave  such  attention  to  the  farm  operations  as 
were  needed,  spending  the  rest  of  my  time  in 
hunting,  fishing,  reading,  or  whatever  else  was 
pleasing  to  my  fancy. 

During  the  summer  months,  we  rambled  like 
children  over  the  hills,  and  along  the  purling 
mountain  stream  that  ran  near  our  home,  revel- 
ing in  the  lovely  scenery;  and  in  winter,  housed 
comfortably,  we  were  entertained  by  the  wailing 
winds,  the  whirling  snow,  and  the  bright  glint 
of  the  sun  on  the  mountain  peaks  around  us. 

The  psychological  effect  upon  me  of  five  years 
in  this  mountain  retreat  was  to  bring  me  back 
into  vital  touch  with  Nature.  In  my  experience, 
Wordsworth's  beautiful  lines  had  been  exempli- 
fied: 

"Heaven  lies  all  about  us  in  our  infancy, 

Shades  of  the  prison-house  begin  to  close 

Upon  the  growing  boy, 

But  he  beholds  the  light  and  whence  it  flows. 

He  sees  it  in  his  joy; 

The  youth  who  daily  farther  from  the  East 

Must  travel,  still  is  Nature's  priest, 

And  by  the  vision  splendid 

Is  on  his  way  attended; 

At  length,  the  man  perceives  it  die  away 

And  fade  into  the  light  of  common  day." 


|Two  In  One  69 

As  a  child  and  youth,  I  was  in  close  sympathy 
with  all  the  ongoings  of  nature,  and  consciously  re- 
sponsive to  the  life  of  God  manifested  through 
her  throbbing  heart.  I  then  did  not  know,  but 
felt  God  in  all  things. 

But  through  my  artificial  teaching  and  life,  the 
glorious  vision  of  youth  had  passed  away,  and  the 
supernal  light  had  faded  "into  the  light  of  com- 
mon day/'  exemplifying  in  me  the  language  of 
the  same  poet, 

"A  primrose  on  the  river's  brim 
A  primrose  only  was  to  him, 
And  it  was  nothing  more." 

The  very  heart  had  been  taken  out  of  things 
by  my  theology,  and  God  had  become  a  limited 
personality  situated  at  some  central  point  in 
space,  outside  of  His  universe,  as  its  attendant, 
ab  extra,  instead  of  being  its  immanent  life. 

Under  the  inspiration  of  my  surroundings,  I 
now  came  to  a  realization,  from  a  scientific  stand- 
point, of  God's  absoluteness.  Taking  my  thought 
position  at  the  center,  in  the  Infinite  Energy  of 
the  scientist,  and  looking  outward  upon  creation 
as  the  effect  of  that  outflowing  energy,  God  be- 
came the  All-in-All  of  all  phenomena  and  forces 
in  the  universe,  and  all  life  became  to  me  but  the 
pulsating  expression  of  the  Divine  life  immanent 
in  man  and  nature.  Over  the  mountains  and 


70  Two  In  One 

the  valleys,  through  the  clouds  and  the  sunshine, 
shone  the  glory  of  the  Lord ;  in  the  twitter  of  the 
birds,  in  the  lowing  of  the  kine,  in  the  laughter 
of  childhood,  I  heard  His  voice.  Mentally  perceiv- 
ing in  the  light  of  scientific  truth  how  God 
is  all  in  all,  my  heart  responded  and  opened  joy- 
fully to  receive  Him  as  manifest  in  His  works, 
and  I  for  the  first  time  entered  fully  into  the  senti- 
ment, "The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God, 
and  the  firmament  showeth  His  handiwork;  day 
unto  day  uttereth  speech  and  night  unto  night 
showeth  knowledge/* 

Mr.  Clark  spent  some  time  with  us  each  sum- 
mer. I  found  him  to  be  a  student  of  Oriental 
philosophy.  He  had  travelled  in  the  East,  and 
had  become  very  much  enamored  of  what  has 
latterly  been  brought  so  prominently  before  the 
Western  World  as  esoteric  Buddhism.  I  had  not 
given  it  much  attention,  and  was  glad  to  hear 
him  present  his  view  of  its  beauties  and  excel- 
lencies. Through  him,  I  obtained  books  and  cut- 
ting loose  from  my  moorings  (as  has  been  my  cus- 
tom in  all  investigations)  launched  out  upon  the 
sea  of  theosophical  thought.  After  a  somewhat 
extended  investigation  of  the  subject,  I  wrote  him 
as  follows : 
My  Dear  Mr.  Clark  :— 

Accept  my  thanks  for  the  works  which  you 
sent  me.      I  have  read  them  with  great  interest. 


Two  In  One  71 

I  would  prefer  to  talk  with  you  on  the  subject; 
but  as  you  have  requested,  will  write  you  briefly 
the  results  of  my  reading  and  thinking. 

Oriental  Theosophy,  as  I  gather  it  from  these 
and  other  books,  is  a  system  without  God,  with- 
out a  Saviour,  without  forgiveness  of  sin  or  any 
means  of  deliverance  from  the  bondage  and  suf- 
fering of  evil,  but  through  an  indefinite  number 
of  ages  and  of  repeated  reincarnations  or  rebirths 
in  the  flesh,  the  final  result  of  which  is  self-deifica- 
tion. Thus  the  individual  or  person  attaining 
Divine  proportions  is  the  highest  expression  of 
Deity. 

Instead  of  the  Heavenly  Father  of  Christianity, 
a  being  of  love  and  intelligence  to  be  loved  and 
communed  with  by  man,  forgiving  his  iniquities 
and  reaching  down  to  help  him  to  a  state  of  free- 
dom and  blissful  unity  with  himself,  this  system 
according  to  one  of  its  leading  interpreters,  ' '  Pre- 
fers believing  that  from  eternity,  retired  within 
itself,  the  spirit  of  Deity  neither  wills  nor  cre- 
ates. "  All  things  proceed  from  an  impersonal, 
unintelligent  principle  or  maelstrom  of  force.  Out 
of  this,  all  things,  man  included,  are  evolved  with 
no  assured  or  predetermined  definite  end  or  aim. 
Somehow,  through  the  spontaneous  union  of  this 
mysterious,  unintelligent  force  with  a  self-exist- 
ant  stuff  called  matter,  the  worlds  were  formed 
and  life  was  born. 


72  Two  In  One 

All  life  begins  first  as  monads  each  one  of  which 
has  the  potency  of  possibly  advancing  through 
successive  forms  from  lower  to  higher,  finally  to 
culminate  in  self-consciousness  as  man.  And 
having  reached  this  point,  the  man  may  possibly 
through  numberless  reincarnations,  by  his  own 
unaided  effort,  gain  deliverence  from  the  thrall- 
dom  of  matter  and  sensation. 

Without  Divine  love,  sympathy  or  help,  he  is 
ground  down  under  the  unalterable  law  of  Karma 
or  the  law  of  consequences,  from  which  there  is 
no  deliverance  but  through  expiation. 

Contrast  all  this  with  the  Spirit  of  Christianity 
as  expressed  in  the  language  of  the  prophet 
quoted  and  applied  by  Christ  to  himself:  "The 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me  because  He  hath 
annointed  me  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor; 
He  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken  hearted;  to 
preach  deliverance  to  the  captive  and  recovering 
of  sight  to  the  blind;  to  set  at  liberty  them  that 
are  bruised,  to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the 
Lord."  Or  again,  contrast  it  with  the  Lord's 
prayer  in  which  we  are  directed  to  look  for  for- 
giveness to  a  loving  Father ;  or  to  the  home-com- 
ing and  reception  of  the  Prodigal  Son;  or  again 
to  Christ's  language  to  the  sinning  Magdalen. 

Still  further,  contrast  the  result  of  the  two  sys- 
tems, as  exemplified  respectively  in  India  and  in 
our  Christian  civilization.  Oliphant  writing  of 


Two  In  One  73 

Oriental  Theosophy  in  India,  says :  "The  final  re- 
sult of  more  than  3000  years  of  this  kind  of  in- 
spiration has  been  to  crowd  a  greater  number  of 
idle,  useless  monks,  of  ragged  religious  mendi- 
cants and  revolting  fakirs  upon  a  given  area  of 
the  world's  surface  than  can  be  found  in  the  same 
space  in  any  other  part  of  the  world." 

Now,  allowing  for  all  the  short-comings  of  our 
Christian  civilization,  I  think  you  will  agree  with 
me  that  taken  as  a  whole,  it  is  almost  infinitely 
superior  to  that  here  pictured  of  the  Orient. 

But  enough  of  this  now.  We  will  thrash  it 
out  further  when  we  meet. 

Yours  sincerely, 

M . 

The  following  is  Mr.  Clark's  response : 

My  Dear  Sir: — 

Yours  received.  Accept  my  thanks  for  your 
candid  statement  of  your  views  on  Theosophy.  As 
you  say,  when  we  meet  we  can  further  thrash  the 
matter  out.  Please  allow  me  to  suggest  that  you 
and  your  daughter  break  the  monotony  of  your 
retirement  by  coming  out  for  a  time  into  the 
world.  It  is  not  well  to  lose  rapport  altogether 
with  the  general  life  of  humanity. 

My  sister-in-law,  the  woman  of  my  household, 
of  whom  you  have  heard  me  speak,  joins  me  in 
a  cordial  invitation  to  you  both  to  visit  us  and 


74  Two  In  One 

make   our   house   your  home    as    long   as    you 
choose  to  remain  in  the  city. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

JAMES  CLARK. 

At  first,  Roberta  was  wholly  disinclined  to 
leave  our  retreat,  even  for  a  short  time;  but  on 
further  consideration  it  was  decided  between  us 
that  she  should,  without  me,  visit  our  friends 
for  at  least  a  few  days.  We  accordingly  wrote 
them  when  to  expect  her,  and  so  she  went,  leav- 
ing me  alone  with  God  and  nature.  During  her 
absence,  my  experience  reminded  me  somewhat 
of  Elijah's  feeling  in  the  Wilderness,  where  the 
Lord  passed  before  him  in  the  earthquake,  then 
the  fire,  and  finally  was  found  to  be,  not  in  these 
external  violences,  but  in  the  still,  small  voice 
within.  In  my  lone  communions  with  nature, 
I  realized  the  Divine  presence  in  the  deeps  of 
my  own  being  as  never  before. 

Ere  long,  a  letter  came  from  Roberta,  from 
which  I  make  the  following  extract:  "I  am  en- 
tering into  the  world's  life  with  a  zest  that  I  had 
supposed  never  to  be  again  possible. 

Every  avenue  of  enjoyment  which  social  life 
can  afford  is  thrown  wide  open,  inviting  me  to 
enter.  Mrs.  Clark  is  superior  to  any  other 
woman  I  have  ever  known.  I  wish,  father,  you 
could  meet  her.  Upon  her  face  rests  a  radiance 


Two  In  One  75 

of  joy,  a  peace,  a  Divine  glory  reminding  me  of 
the  halo  around  the  head  of  Christ  by  the  old 
painters.  Christ  is  to  her  a  living,  present, 
indwelling  personality.  She  fulfills  Paul's 
words,  "No  longer  do  I  live,  but  Christ  liveth  in 
me."  She  exemplifies  to  me  a  power  and  beauty 
in  Christianity  such  as  I  had  never  conceived. 
Her  entire  thought  is  for  the  good  of  others. 
She  lives  for  the  good  she  can  do  and,  in  what 
she  does,  has  no  personal  ends  to  subserve. 

Her  son,  Mr.  Fred  Clark,  of  whom  his  uncle 
has  told  you,  is  on  all  occasions  at  my  disposal 
as  escort,  and  in  every  possible  way  endeavors 
to  make  me  enjoy  my  visit.  'He  is  a  well-edu- 
cated, refined  gentleman,  and  handsome  withal. 
He  is  so  superior  to  most  men  that  I  feel  proud 
of  him  as  my  friend  and  companion — there  now, 
lest  I  make  you  think  I  have  fallen  in  love  with 
him,  I  will  say  no  more. 

I  have  not  been  altogether  idle  since  I  have 
been  here.  Soon  after  my  arrival,  through  a 
work  on  the  Kindergarten  in  Mr.  Clark's  library, 
I  became  very  much  interested  in  that  subject, 
and  there  being  a  school  near  by,  I  have  for 
some  time  been  a  daily  visitor  and  student.  I 
should  like  so  much  to  engage  in  the  work.  I 
cannot  tell  you  how  I  enjoy  it. 

If  it  were  not  for  separation  from  you,  dear 


76  Two  In  One 

papa,  I  should  take  a  position  in  the  school  of 
which  I  speak. 

If  you  are  very  lonely,  I  will  hasten  to  you; 
otherwise,  I  may  extend  my  visit  somewhat  longer 
than  I  anticipated. 

Your  loving  daughter, 

EOBEETA. 

I  was  glad  to  learn  of  my  daughter's  awaken- 
ing interest  in  life,  and  wrote  to  her  that  it 
would  in  my  judgment  be  best  for  her  and  hence 
for  me,  that  she  should  engage  in  teaching.  And 
so  it  came  to  pass  that  her  visit  was  prolonged 
to  the  following  summer. 

I  was  delighted  on  her  return  to  behold  in  her 
a  transformation  such  as  I  had  never  before  seen 
in  any  one.  Her  countenance  was  radiant. 

"My  dear,"  I  exclaimed,  "It  does  me  good  to 
look  at  you.  What  blessedness  has  come  upon 
you?" 

"Oh,  everything  good,  father,"  she  cried. 
"First,  and  chiefly,  I  have  learned  from  my  dear 
friend,  Mrs.  Clark,  to  make  Christianity  a  prac- 
tical, living,  present  reality. 

"Second,  I  have  been  engaged  in  a  work  that 
I  greatly  love  and  enjoy,  and — " 

"Well,   and— and  what  else?" 

"0  papa,  dear,  I  may  as  well  out  with  it,  I 
have  found  one  who,  next  to  my  father,  is  my 
ideal  of  a  man." 


Two  In  One  77 

"Ah,  you  have?  I  suspected  something  of  the 
kind.  And  so  young  Mr.  Clark  is  purposing  to 
take  my  child  and  companion  from  me,  and  you 
are  conniving  at  his  nefarious  design?" 

"Now,  papa,  I  haven't  mentioned  Mr.  Clark !" 

"No,  it  was  not  necessary.  Your  letters  re- 
vealed your  secret.  Is  the  matter  definitely  set- 
tled between  you? 

"No;  to  be  candid,  Mr.  Clark  has  entreated  me 
to  become  his  wife." 

"And  you—?" 

"I  declined  to  give  him  a  definite  answer  till 
I  could  come  back  to  the  wilderness,  and  in  its 
silence  interrogate  my  heart,  and  (throwing  her 
arms  around  my  neck)  consulting  my  dear,  dear 
father." 

"Of  course  you  love  Mr.  Clark?" 

"It  seems  to  me  that  he  is  the  very  soul  of  my 
soul." 

"Well,  my  precious  one,  your  father  greatly 
distrusts  his  ability  to  give  you  advice.  In  this 
case,  I  think  you  are  your  own  best  counsellor. 
Did  you  tell  Mr.  Clark  of  your  past  experiences?" 

"Yes,  certainly,  papa,  all — I  insisted,  a  gainst  his 
protest,  in  going  over  the  entire  sad  story;  but 
it  seemed  only  to  intensify  his  feeling  toward 
me." 

"Sensible  man!" 


78  Two  In  One 

"He  will  be  here  in  about  a  month,  when  I  am 
to  give  him  my  final  answer." 

It  will  suffice  here  to  say  that  Mr.  Clark  made 
his  appearance  in  due  time,  and  received  for  his 
answer,  "Yes." 

The  question  now  came  up  as  to  the  time  of 
the  wedding.  Mr.  Clark  pleaded  for  an  early 
date ;  but  as  some  mining  interests  claimed  my  im- 
mediate attention,  it  was  deferred  six  months 
later.  And  here  I  must  explain  that  during  the 
years  of  our  sojourn  in  this  mountain  region,  I 
had  been  drawn  to  the  study  of  its  geological 
formation.  Roberta  and  I  had  latterly  turned 
our  rambles  to  practical  account  by  investigat- 
ing with  reference  to  gold  bearing  strata.  We 
had  located  a  spot  where  we  thought  there  were 
evidences  of  gold,  and,  during  her  stay  in  Oak- 
land, I  had  the  matter  tested,  with  very  favorable 
results.  Hence  I  felt  that  my  presence  was 
needed  there  for  the  time.  Mr.  Clark  having  hau 
some  experience  in  mining,  I  took  him  to  tne 
place  and  he  pronounced  it  a  very  rich  find.  And 
so  it  proved. 

Some  weeks  before  the  day  set  for  the  wedding, 
with  reluctance,  we  bade  farewell  to  our  mountain 
retreat,  which  had  received  us  as  sad,  friendless, 
homeless  wanderers,  and  was  now  sending  us 
away  joyous,  blessed  with  dear  friends,  and 
abundant  means  at  our  command. 


Two  In  One  79 

On  the  morning  of  our  departure,  we  knelt 
down,  hand  in  hand,  and  fervently  thanked  our 
Heavenly  Father  for  His  manifold  blessings.  Our 
afflictions,  the  result  of  our  evil  states,  He  had 
made  to  ultimate  in  blessings,  our  sorrow  He  had 
turned  into  joy,  our  crying  into  laughter.  Our 
hearts  sang  in  unison,  "0  that  men  would  praise 
the  Lord  for  His  goodness,  and  for  His  wonder- 
ful works  to  the  children  of  men!" 

We  took  rooms  in  Oakland,  and  Roberta  being 
busy  with  her  dressmakers,  and  I  with  some  busi- 
ness matters,  I  did  not  at  once  meet  Mrs.  Clark. 

After  some  days  had  elapsed,  Roberta  said, 
"Now,  father,  this  has  gone  on  long  enough. 
You  must  go  with  me  this  very  morning  to  visit 
Fred's  mother.  I  am  so  anxious  that  you  shall 
know  her.  You  and  she  will  find  much  in  com- 
mon, I  am  sure.  It  is  now  nearing  the  time  of 
my  appointment  with  her,  and  she  is  expecting 
you.  Here  is  Fred,  who  will  go  with  us." 

Under  their  chaperonage,  I  soon  found  myself 
seated  in  the  parlor  of  Mr.  Clark's  elegant  man- 
sion on  -  street.  Mr.  Clark,  like  many 

others,  while  doing  business  in  San  Francisco, 
preferred  the  "City  of  Homes"  across  the  bay  as 
his  residence. 

In  a  few  moments,  a  stately,  dignified  lady 
stood  before  me,  and  I  was  introduced  to  Mrs. 
Clark.  As  our  eyes  met—' '  Mary ! "— ' '  Robert ! ' ' 


80  Two  In  One 

were  our  exclamations  as  we  stood  gazing  in  as- 
tonishment at  each  other.  Involuntarily  I 
opened  my  arms,  and  she  rushed  into  my  em- 
brace. Again  was  renewed  the  experience  of  my 
boyhood  at  the  Methodist  altar  of  prayer.  *  *  God — 
Mary,"  echoed  through  all  the  recesses  of  my 
being,  and  my  rapture  was  unspeakable.  How 
long  we  thus  stood  violating  conventionalism  and 
shocking  propriety,  in  the  persons  of  our  son  and 
daughter  looking  on,  I  know  not.  I  was  ob- 
livious to  time  and  circumstance,  and  was  con- 
scious only  of  the  truth  of  my  absolute  oneness  in 
God  with  Mary. 

Our  greeting  passed,  she  said,  "Why,  Robert, 
how  is  this?  Why  are  you  here  under  the  name 
of  McNair?  I  should  at  once  have  known  Ro- 
berta to  be  your  daughter,  had  she  not  been  dis- 
guised by  bearing  another  name.  Now  I  can 
understand  why  she  seemed  from  the  first  to  be 
an  old  acquaintance,  and  why  she  so  interested 
and  attracted  me.  I  see  now  that  she,  by  her 
resemblance  to  you,  constantly  reminded  me  of 
you." 

"It  was  all  my  fault,"  interrupted  Roberta, 
"We  had  had  so  much  trouble  that  I  wished  to 
lose  myself  to  the  world,  and  persuaded  papa  to 
drop  the  name  "Morven,"  and  for  the  time  be 
known  only  by  his  middle  name,  McNair,  the 
patronymic  of  his  mother.  He  reluctantly  agreed 


Two  In  One  81 

to  it,  and  that  is  all  there  is  about  it.  I  told 
Fred,  of  course,  but  bound  him  to  secrecy." 

''Yes,  Roberta  told  me  of  the  change  in  name, 
but  she  did  not  in  the  least  prepare  me  for  this 
part  of  the  program.  I  see  plainly,  now,  why 
she  was  so  anxious  to  get  you  together." 

''Now,  Fred,"  exclaimed  Roberta,  "You  know 
that  I  never  had  any  idea  papa  and  your  mother 
were  even  acquainted,  much  less  old  lovers." 

"Indeed,  you  are  mistaken,"  cried  Mrs.  Clark, 
"We  were  never  lovers,  but  just  youthful 
friends " 

"Oh,"  exclaimed  Fred,  "Is  that  the  way 
friends  expressed  their  friendship  in  your  youth! 
How  I  should  like  to  have  lived  then. ' ' 

"But  you  see,"  I  explained,  "It  has  been  so 
long  ago  that  we  were  glad  to  see  each  other 
again.  Your  mother  and  I  were  like  sister  and 
brother,  and  I  have  not  seen  her,  nor  scarcely 
heard  of  her,  since  we  were  girl  and  boy  together 
at  her  father's  house." 

"Well,  anyway,  it  is  most  awfully  romantic.  It 
is  better  than  a  novel.  How  tragically  mother 
rushed — Now,  mother,  it  was  all  right,  don't 
blush  so.  Come,  Bert  a,  let  us  leave  these  youth- 
ful lovers  to  themselves.  I  am  sure  they  will 
just  at  present  excuse  our  absence."  And  with 
a  bow  they  left  us.  It  now  became  settled  that 
there  were  to  be  two  weddings  instead  of  one. 


82  Two  In  One 

For  some  weeks  following  our  marriage,  we 
dwelt  in  rapturous  obliviousness  of  our  surround- 
ings. The  heavens  were  opened  to  us  and  we 
realized  our  eternal  unity  in  spirit.  Our  entire 
beings  were,  to  our  consciousness,  blended  into 
one.  It  was  as  if  a  window  had  been  opened 
into  the  inner  realm  of  spirit  and  to  our  visions 
respectively,  each  was  revealed  to  the  other  as  the 
eternal,  spiritual,  other  self,  she  as  a  love-form 
and  I  as  a  truth-form,  the  two  constituting  one 
individual,  she  being  the  love  of  me  and  I,  the 
truth  of  her. 

Not  only  so,  but  this  sense  of  unity  pervaded 
our  entire  external  existence.  All  the  love  ele- 
ment of  my  nature — all  my  outward  affections 
and  emotions,  were  sensed  by  me  as  a  stream  flow- 
ing from  the  fountain  of  my  love-self  within,  and 
by  which  all  my  thought  was  quickened;  and  all 
the  truth  or  intellectual  element — all  mental 
activities  in  her  were  realized  by  her  as  having 
their  origin  in  her  spiritual  other  self  within. 

Thus  her  outward  personality  was  to  my  spir- 
itualized perception,  only  the  visual  manifesta- 
tion of  my  inmost  love,  and  my  personality  was, 
to  her,  the  expression  of  her  inward  truth  self. 

And  what  was  marvelous  to  us,  as  we  often  in 
our  talks  remarked  to  each  other,  was  that  as  the 
result  of  our  spiritual  union,  the  life  to  each  flow- 


Two  In  One  83 

ing  down  from  God  through  the  other  was 
sensed  as  the  very  Divine  life  and  so  our  spiritual 
union  was  at  one  with  our  union  to  God. 

Through  these  experiences  were  revealed  to  us 
the  spiritual  nature  and  meaning  of  sex. 

Like  the  disciples  beholding  the  transfigura- 
tion of  the  Master,  we  for  the  time  had  ascended 
the  mount  of  spiritual  perception  and  were  per- 
mitted to  behold  the  truth  in  its  inner  glories. 
But  with  us,  as  with  them,  the  vision  passed  and 
we  again  descended  to  the  valley  of  physical 
sense,  by  prayer  and  fasting  to  cast  out  thence 
the  infesting  demon  of  error. 

"Robert,"  said  Mrs.  Morven,  "I  want  you  to 
write  out  the  story  of  your  life  in  detail,  giving 
it  as  you  might  tell  it  to  a  stranger.  This,  for 
two  reasons.  One  is  that  I  feel  that  our  lives 
have,  all  along,  in  some  important  points  touched 
and  blended  and  I  wish  to  have  at  hand  the  means 
of  noting  more  closely  those  connections.  And 
again,  I  wish  the  course  of  your  life  before  me 
as  a  means  of  placing  myself  in  psychological  re- 
lation to  you,  as  it  were,  living  over  your  past  life 
along  with  you." 

"Certainly,  my  dear,"  I  repiled,  "But  you,  of 
course,  will  favor  me  with  your  memoirs  in  re- 
turn." 


84  Two  In  One 

"Assuredly,  if  you  wish."  And  so  the  ques- 
tion was  settled  and  hence  the  preceding  pages 
and  the  following  autobiography  of  my  wife. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Some  time  after  the  preceding  conversation,  I 
having  completed  my  writing  and  Mrs.  Morven 
having  read  it,  she  said: 

"I  am  somewhat  at  a  loss  where  to  begin  my 
story.  You  have  already  given  the  main 
facts  of  my  early  life;  and  let  me  say  that 
you  painted  me  in  very  bright,  if  not  exaggerated 
colors. ' ' 

"No,  my  dear,  not  exaggerated." 

'  *  In  your  eyes,  perhaps  not.  To  continue,  then : 
After  you  left  me  for  college,  I  was  lonely  indeed. 
I  did  not  think  of  love  in  connection  with  you, 
but  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  light  of  my  life 
had  gone  out.  You  would  have  been  surprised 
had  you  known  how  I  read  and  reread  your  oc- 
casional letters,  and  how  I  rejoiced  at  your  ad- 
vancement. 

Gradually,  as  other  interests  absorbed  you,  your 
letters  came  less  frequently,  and  when  you  began 
preaching,  stopped  altogether,  and  our  lives 
parted.  But  Robert,  your  image  has  always,  in 
my  interior  musings  and  religious  experiences, 
been  before  me  as  I  saw  you  in  your  glorified  state 
(as  I  call  it)  at  your  conversion.  I  felt  then 


86  Two  In  One 

as  though  my  being  were  within  yours,  and  that 
we  were  one ;  and  I  have  always  known  that  our 
lives  would,  some  time,  somehow,  again  merge 
together. 

The  years  following,  up  to  the  time  of  my  mar- 
riage, passed  uneventfully,  with  the  exception  of 
my  first  great  sorrow,  in  the  death  of  my  mother. 
But  death  with  her  was  so  peaceful,  so  victorious, 
so  manifestly  an  entering  into  heavenly  joys,  that 
my  grief  at  her  absence  was  assuaged  by  the 
thought  of  her  blessedness.  Her  spiritual  vision 
was  opened  during  her  last  hours,  and  she  freely 
talked  with  friends  gone  before,  and  gave  us 
communications  from  them. 

I  stayed  with  my  father  until  his  second  mar- 
riage, three  years  after  the  death  of  my  mother; 
and  following  this,  up  to  my  marriage,  I  was  a 
teacher  in  Auburn  Seminary.  Then  I  was  united 
to  Mr.  Clark,  and  moved  with  him  to  the  city  of 
Rochester,  New  York,  where  my  husband  was 
engaged  in  merchandising. 

My  marriage  was  a  happy  one,  as  marriages  go. 
My  husband  was  a  true  Christian  gentleman,  a 
prominent  business  man,  of  large  social  influence, 
and  a  pillar  of  the  church.  We  lived  together 
in  the  utmost  harmony,  and  there  seemed  to  be 
nothing  to  mar  my  happiness.  One  year  after 
our  marriage,  our  son  Fred  was  born,  which  of 
course  was  an  event  that  filled  my  mother's  heart 


Two  In  One  87 

to  overflowing  with  joy.  And  yet,  withal,  my 
husband  and  I  were  not  one.  Ours  was  not  a 
union  in  spirit,  but  as  you  term  it,  a  mere  symbol 
of  such  union. 

Now,  what  shall  I  say  of  my  religious  life  dur- 
ing these  years?  One  word  will  express  it — dis- 
content— disappointment.  To  aim  at  perfect- 
ness,  wholeness,  completeness  in  whatsoever  I  am 
or  do,  has  been  ever  a  characteristic  of  mine.  I 
carried  this  idea  into  religion.  The  measure  of  a 
full  man  in  Christ  was  my  aim,  and  I  could  rest 
content  with  nothing  less.  Hence  I  put  forth 
every  effort,  and  tried  every  means  of  attaining 
that  end.  I  read  all  the  books  I  could  get  treat- 
ing of  complete  conscious  union  with  God,  such 
as  Thomas-a-Kempis,  Madame  Guyon,  Boardman 
on  the  Higher  Life,  and  practiced  rigidly  the  di- 
rections therein  given,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  I 
was  seeking  such  a  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as 
would  free  me  from  temptation,  or  at  least  hold  me 
effectually  against  yielding.  I  could  and  did, 
in  prayer,  daily  rise  into  a  state  of  ecstacy,  and 
thus  for  the  time  soared  above  all  earthly  cares. 
But  descending  from  the  mount  of  vision,  I  would 
find  myself  again  as  weak  and  erring  as  before, 
and  even  more  so.  It  seemed  that  the  depres- 
sion below  was  equal  to  the  elevation  above  the 
ordinary  level. 

One  source  of  hindrance  was  the  far-offness  of 


88  Two  In  One 

God.  From  my  teaching,  I  had  the  idea  of  God 
as  situated  off  an  infinite  distance  in  space,  be- 
yond the  farthest  reach  of  the  telescope.  I  re- 
member a  sermon  preached  by  one  of  our  leading 
preachers,  at  a  quarterly  conference,  which  was 
highly  commended  by  the  Bishop  and  all  the 
preachers,  in  which  God  was  thus  represented :  the 
Son  was  described  as  sitting  on  the  right-hand  of 
the  Father,  in  some  far-off  region ;  the  Holy  Spirit 
being  the  representative  of  Christ  abiding  with 
man,  it  was  his  office  to  take  the  prayer  of  faith 
and  carry  it  to  the  Son,  who,  turning  to  the 
Father,  laid  it  before  Him,  and  He,  by  virtue  of 
the  entreaty  of  the  Son,  granted  the  request, 
which  was  returned  to  the  Spirit,  and  thence  by 
him  answer  was  given  to  the  waiting  believer. 

Now,  all  this  machinery  so  separated  me  from 
God  as  to  constitute  a  bar  to  real  communion.  I 
came  to  see  that  these  ideas  are  not  in  accord  with 
the  teachings  of  the  Scriptures  as  to  the  vital 
union,  the  real  identity  of  the  believer  with 
Christ,  he  the  vine  and  they  the  branches,  he  the 
head  and  they  the  members.  Thus,  I  was  in  the 
condition  of  which  Paul  speaks — chained  to  a 
body  of  death  from  which  I  vainly  sought  deliver- 
ance. The  Apostle  teaches  that  Christ  gives  de- 
liverance, but  I  could  not  avail  myself  of  his  help. 
I  grew  prematurely  gray  with  the  agony  of  men- 
tal conflict.  In  looking  at  that  period  of  my 


Two  In  One  89 

life,  it  seems  to  me  that  my  mind  at  times  was 
partially  unbalanced. 

It  appeared  to  me  as  though  the  church  utterly 
failed  to  appreciate  the  teachings  of  the  Scrip- 
ture as  to  the  power  of  the  Gospel  to  save.  As 
I  interpreted  Christianity,  it  was  a  present  and 
complete  salvation  of  both  soul  and  body;  as 
taught  and  believed  by  the  church  it  is  a  mere 
promise,  and  in  the  higher  reaches  of  Christian 
faith  and  experience,  a  guarantee — an  assurance 
of  deliverance  after  death. 

The  consequence  of  all  this  was  to  throw  me 
out  of  harmony  with  my  people,  including  my 
husband.  I  was  tolerated  in  the  church  merely 
because  of  my  husband's  position  and  influence. 
The  finale  of  this  period  of  my  life  came  with  my 
husband's  business  failure,  followed  by  his  death. 
At  a  time  of  business  depression,  he  was  called 
upon  to  pay  a  large  security  debt,  and  thus  was 
forced  to  go  into  bankruptcy.  The  thought  of 
the  distress  coming  upon  his  family,  and  his  sen- 
sitiveness to  public  opinion,  brought  upon  him  a 
fever  which  ended  his  life. 

I  was  left  stripped  of  everything  but  our  resi- 
dence and  household  goods.  My  father  now  in- 
sisted upon  my  living  with  him.  My  life  in  his 
family  was  a  time  of  grief,  humiliation  and 
spiritual  darkness.  My  stepmother  was  a  kind- 
ly-intentioned  person,  but  was  of  a  jealous  dis- 


90  Two  In  One 

position,  and  for  some  reason  extremely  preju- 
diced against  me.  She  resented  my  becoming  an 
inmate  of  her  home.  I  will  only  add,  in  passing, 
that  I  wonder  at  the  resources  with  which  woman 
is  endowed  by  every  word  and  act,  to  stab  and 
wound  and  irritate  one  whom  she  hates.  Cer- 
tainly my  stepmother  was  so  eminently  endowed 
in  this  direction  that  she  managed  to  render  all 
around  her  miserable.  Under  her  endless  nag- 
ging and  discontent,  my  father  had  grown  sad 
and  worn.  This,  added  to  the  cares  and  sor- 
rows brought  on  him  by  the  character  and  con- 
duct of  my  brother,  caused  his  death. 

You  remember  Jamie,  bright,  sweet,  joyous 
Jamie,  my  father's  pet  and  mother's  idol.  My 
father  having  set  his  hopes  upon  him,  sought  to 
give  him  a  thorough  education  and  looked  to  see 
him  develop  into  a  strong  and  full-rounded  man- 
hood. But  he  was  doomed  to  disappointment. 
In  spite  of  all  the  good  and  wholesome  influences 
around  him,  Jamie  turned  out  to  be  worse  than 
worthless.  I  suppose  it  is  a  case  of  what 
scientists  term  "reversion  of  type,"  an  inher- 
itance from  some  previous  generation.  Certainly 
Jamie  did  not  inherit  his  lack  of  ambition  to  be 
or  do  anything  worthy  of  his  powers  from  his 
immediate  parents.  Poor  Jamie !  He  seemed  to 
be  inherently  perverted.  He  said  to  error,  "Be 
thou  my  truth;"  and  to  evil,  "Be  thou  my 


Two  In  One  91 

good."  He  grew  to  manhood,  constantly  fight- 
ing against  all  efforts  to  train  his  mind  and 
heart  upward,  and  then  when  freed  from  parental 
restraint  and  guidance,  gave  way  altogether  to 
his  natural  bent  downward.  More  than  once, 
father  was  called  upon  to  pay  heavy  sums  on 
paper  forged  by  Jamie  for  gambling  debts,  and, 
finally,  he  was  compelled  to  mortgage  his  entire 
property  to  keep  his  beloved  boy  from  the 
state's  prison.  This  course  of  Jamie's  I  sup- 
pose ought  to  be  considered  in  mitigation  of  my 
step-mother's  bearing  toward  her  husband's 
children. 

Not  long  after  my  becoming  one  of  the  family, 
my  father's  health  began  to  decline,  and  day  by 
day  he  grew  weaker  until  the  grave  opened  to  re- 
ceive him.  His  life  went  out  seemingly  only 
because  he  was  disappointed  of  earthly  hopes  and 
there  was  no  interest  here  to  hold  him  longer. 
His  last  word  was  "Mother,"  the  name  by  which 
he  always  called  the  wife  of  his  youth. 

Alas !  for  Jamie !  Never  have  I  seen  any  mor- 
tal so  utterly  crushed  as  he.  He  cried  out  in 
ngony,  "0,  sister,  I  have  killed  father.  I  have 
been  devil-possessed  and  have  broken  my  dear 
father's  heart.  0  God,  what  shall  I  do?  Oh, 
vhat  shall  I  do?"  I  forgot  my  own  grief  in 
the  endeavor  to  comfort  my  brother,  from  that 


92  Two  In  One 

time,  Jamie  was  a  changed  man,  and  has  since 
lived  a  life  of  industry,  honor  and  sobriety. 

About  this  time,  the  Christian  Science  movement 
began  its  career,  and  I  became  interested.  Its 
claims  to  give  absolute  peace  to  its  votaries,  and 
to  heal  the  body  in  accordance  with  the  commis- 
sion of  Christ,  appealed  to  me;  and  so,  I  with 
some  difficulty  got  together  the  means  of  paying 
the  tuition  fee  and  became  a  member  of  a  class 
taught  by  Mrs.  Eddy.  The  class  was  composed 
largely  of  cultured  people,  including  several 
professional  gentlemen. 

We  were  requested  by  our  teacher  to  divest  our 
minds,  as  far  as  possible,  of  all  prepossessions, 
abstain  from  all  discussion  of  subjects  treated 
and  wait  patiently  to  the  end  of  the  course. 

Her  method  was  not  argumentative  nor  yet 
was  it  dogmatic.  She  spoke  as  one  might  speak 
who  was  a  herald  of  truth  from  the  heavens,  an- 
nouncing principles  asif  beheld  in  prophetic  vision. 
The  result  was  that  I  found  myself  at  the  close  of 
the  course,  uplifted  into  a  mental  sphere  in  which 
the  entire  physical  sense  realm  became  as  nought, 
and  the  invisible  or  spiritual  universe  as  the  only 
substance  and  reality. 

What  could  not  be  interpreted  in  terms  of 
Spirit  I  dismissed  as  unreality,  illusion.  In  gen- 
eral, my  new  found  faith  was  condensed  in  what 
is  termed  in  the  Christian  Science  text  book, 


Two  In  One  93 

Science  and  Health,  "The  Scientific  Statement  of 
Being ":  "There  is  no  life,  truth,  intelligence  or 
substance  in  matter  (phenomena) .  All  is  infinite 
mind  and  its  infinite  manifestation,  for  God  is  All 
in  all.  Spirit  is  immortal  truth ;  matter  is  mortal 
error.  Spirit  is  the  real  and  eternal;  matter  is 
unreal  and  temporal.  Spirit  is  God,  and  man  is 
His  image  and  likeness;  hence  man  is  spiritual 
and  not  material." 

God  became  to  my  conception,  an  all  encom- 
passing, all  pervading,  all  loving,  Divine  Principle 
in  whom,  now  and  forever,  all  humanity  have 
ever  had  life  and  being;  and  in  whom  we  have 
now,  at  each  moment  only  to  realize  the  truth  in 
order  to  enter  into  all  the  Divine  fullness. 

Man's  relation  to  God  became  no  longer  legal, 
but  vital;  and  sin  no  longer  the  corruption  of 
man's  essential  being,  but  only  a  falling  away 
from  consciousness  of  unity  with  God,  the  ac- 
cepting of  the  outward  appearance  of  life-in- 
self  and  of  substance  in  matter  (physical  phenom- 
ena) as  reality. 

Salvation  became  to  consist  of  deliverance  from 
the  thralldom  of  physical  sense,  by  denial  of  the 
error  and  affirming  the  truth  of  the  spiritual  life 
in  God  with  all  that  is  implied  therein. 

The  relation  of  the  Christ  to  humanity  became 
merely  that  of  the  way-shower  to  eternal  life.  The 
man  Jesus,  imbued  with  the  Christ  Spirit,  ex- 


94  Two  In  One 

emplified  the  true  spiritual  nature  of  man,  the 
substantiality  of  spirit  and  the  nothingness  of  all 
sense  appearance,  demonstrating  the  truth  by  his 
triumph  over  sin,  sickness  and  death.  He  was 
the  Saviour  in  that  he  was  the  great  teacher 
working  out  the  problem  of  existence  in  and  for 
himself  and,  thereby,  becoming  an  example  for 
us  to  follow.  By  his  method  of  dealing  with 
sin,  or  error,  in  his  wilderness  temptations,  he 
illustrated  the  general  law  by  which  all  sensuous 
conditions  are  to  be  met  and  overcome,  viz.:  by 
denying  the  inflowing  evil  thoughts  as  self -gen- 
erated but  referring  them  to  Satan,  error,  mor- 
tal mind,  as  their  source,  and  affirming  our  essen- 
tial inherency  in  God.  To  my  mental  vision, 
man  in  his  present  state,  appeared  as  if  poised 
between  the  internal  heavens  of  spiritual  reality 
and  the  external,  mortal  mind  realm  of  sense  il- 
lusions. By  denying  the  latter  and  affirming  and 
living  with  reference  to  the  former,  he  attains 
eternal  life  or  conscious  harmony  with  the  infinite 
Principle  of  his  being. 

Furthermore,  the  truth  of  this  position  and 
method  was  demonstrated  by  its  results,  in  the 
way  of  bodily  healing  both  of  myself  and  others. 

For  all  this  spiritual  uplift  and  peace  of  mind, 
I  was  profoundly  grateful  to  her  through  whom 
these  wonderful  revelations  and  deliverances 
came. 


Two  In  One  95 

Such  was  the  even  tenor  of  my  life  for  several 
years,  when  I  received  a  brief  communication 
from  a  Rev.  Mr.  Wise,  who  had  been  a  member  of 
my  class.  I  remembered  him  as  a  man  of  unusual 
mental  ability  and  profound  learning.  My  im- 
pressions of  him  had  been  that  while  he  was  in- 
terested in  the  course  of  thought  pursued,  he  was 
by  no  means  satisfied  with  the  method  of  treat- 
ment or  results.  He  was  writing,  he  said,  to 
all  the  members  of  our  class  with  the  purpose  of 
getting  a  consensus  of  our  views  of  Christian 
Science  after  these  years  of  thought  and  practical 
experience.  I  responded  accordingly  and  re- 
quested the  favor  of  his  own  mental  status  on  the 
subject  in  return. 

The  following  is  his  reply: 

My  Dear  Mrs.  Clark:— 

Your  esteemed  favor  at  hand  for  which  accept 
my  hearty  thanks.  I  have  read  your  graphic  ac- 
count of  your  mental  and  spiritual  experiences 
with  great  pleasure  and  profit.  I  fear,  however, 
that  the  details  of  the  ongoings  of  my  mind  may 
not  be  so  interesting  to  you  as  yours  were  to  me ; 
but  at  your  request,  I  give  them. 

First,  I  would  say  that  with  the  fundamental 
principles  of  Christian  Science  such  as  those  em- 
braced in  the  "scientific  statement  of  being" 
(when  properly  understood),  I  am  in  perfect  ac- 


96  Two  In  One 

cord.  I  accept  also  the  Christian  Science  idea 
of  sin  as  being  a  mistaking  of  the  seeming  of 
life-in-self  as  real  or  true,  and  of  the  phenomenal 
world  of  appearance  as  being  substance  in  and  of 
itself;  and  further,  I  see  that  the  means  of  deliv- 
erance from  this  error  consists  fundamentally  in 
denying  the  false  and  affirming  the  true.  But  I 
am  decidedly  at  variance  with  our  author  in  her 
philosophy  of  the  nature  and  object  of  this  ex- 
ternal realm  of  physical  appearances  and  of  man's 
present  state  of  existence.  Indeed,  she  seems 
to  have  no  clear  conception  of  the  nature  of  our 
mortal  existence,  whence  it  comes  or  what  it  means. 
At  one  time,  she  seems  to  recognize  it  as  a  reality 
and  as  having  a  meaning;  but  at  another,  she  de- 
nies it  altogether,  going  so  far  as  to  declare  that 
it  is  an  utter  illusion,  "a  dream  without  a 
dreamer"  (whatever  that  may  be),  and  that  so, 
even  the  Almighty  has  not  nor  can  have  any 
cognizance  of  our  evil  and  suffering  conditions. 

Philosophically,  as  I  apprehend  it,  there  are 
four,  and  only  four  ways  of  conceiving  and  inter- 
preting the  ongoings  of  nature,  viz. :  niaterialism, 
the  holding  that  there  is  no  substance  or  life  but 
in  nature 's  forces ;  dualism,  the  theory  that  spirit 
and  matter  are  two idistmct  substances  and  thus 
that  God  is  situated  somewhere  in  space  outside 
his  universe ;  negationism,  which  denies  that  there 
is  any  reality  or  meaning  to  the  outer  world  of 


Two  In  One  97 

physical  sense,  and  idealistic  realism  which 
holds  that  spirit  is  the  only  substance,  and  that 
the  phenomenal  world  is  the  visual  expression 
of  idea  forms  eternally  inherent  therein.  Our 
author's  philosophy,  so  far  as  she  has  any,  is 
negationism.  Her  difficulty  seems  to  lie  in  con- 
founding the  mere  fact  of  the  existence  of 
the  external  realm,  and  of  our  conscious  existence 
therein  with  the  erroneous  conception  of  these 
appearances  as  being  the  essential  reality.  Seeing 
the  error  of  this  latter  conception,  she  is  driven 
to  the  utter  denial  of  all  reality  or  meaning  to 
physical  existence.  Putting  her  theory  syllo- 
gistically,  it  would  stand  thus :  The  body  is  com- 
posed of  matter  (phenomena)  ;  but  there  is  no 
matter  (phenomena),  therefore,  there  is  no  body. 

Again:  Disease  is  caused  by  mortal  mind  (the 
mind  of  physical  sense)  ;  but  there  is  no  mortal 
mind;  therefore,  there  is  no  disease. 

But  as  in  order  to  think  at  all  she  must  some- 
how recognize  this  outer  existence,  and  her  outer 
;-self  (the  natural  mind),  who  is  doing  the  think- 
ing, we  find  her  in  all  her  writings  accepting  of 
necessity  the  reality  in  some  sense  of  the  very 
things  which  she  is  denying  as  having  any  ex- 
istence. So  we  are  led  round  and  round,  in- 
volved in  a  maze  of  philosophical  contradictions. 

Now  as  to  the  character  and  work  of  our 
.Saviour;  are  you,  my  dear  sister,  thoroughly  sat- 


98  Two  In  One 

isfied  with  the  theory  that  he  was  a  mere  rnanr 
somehow  unusually  endowed,  and  that  his  rela- 
tion to  humanity  was  only  that  of  a  teacher, 
showing  us  by  precept  and  example,  how  to  work 
out  the  problem  of  existence?  If  this  is  true, 
then  we  are  all  Christs  and  Saviours  in  so  far 
as  we  by  our  examples  and  teaching  show  the- 
way.  And  Mrs.  Eddy  must  be  held  by  her  fol- 
lowers as,  par  excellence,  the  Saviour;  since  they 
accept  her  as  the  final  and  only  authorized  in- 
terpreter of  all  Scripture  revelation  including,  of 
course,  the  teaching  of  Christ. 

Now  allow  me  to  say  that  my  understanding  of 
the  Christ  as  set  forth  in  the  gospels,  is  that 
he  was  the  Divine  Word,  the  eternal  Logos,  made 
flesh,  and  that  the  object  of  such  organization  of 
Divinity  into  our  humanity  was  that  through  the 
Divine  natural  humanity  thus  constituted,  there 
might  be  a  radiation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  into  all 
humanity,  both  the  quick  and  the  dead,  awaken- 
ing them  from  their  sense-stupor  to  a  conscious- 
ness of  their  essential  and  eternal  oneness  with, 
and  in  God. 

We  are  told  in  John's  gospel  that  the  Word 
was,  in  the  beginning,  with  God  and  was  God.. 
This  he  applies  to  the  man  Jesus  Christ.  Can-, 
the  same  be  said  of  any  other  man?  Again,, 
Jesus  says  of  himself,  ' '  No  man  hath  ascended  up 
to  heaven  but  he  that  came  down  from  heaven.. 


Two  In  One  99 

even  the  Son  of  Man  who  is  in  heaven."  Can 
this  be  claimed  of  any  other?  In  his  last  prayer 
he  says,  "Thou  (Father)  in  me  and  I  in  them." 
Can  this  be  true  of  a  mere  man?  I  know  that 
the  author 's  explanation  of  these  scriptural  teach- 
ings is  that  this  language  was  that  of  the  Christ 
Spirit  speaking  through  the  lips  of  the  man 
Jesus.  Are  you  satisfied  with  this  explanation? 
What,  in  this  view,  can  we  make  of  that  glorious 
personal  appearing  to  John  on  the  isle  of 
Patmos  of  the  risen  Son  of  Man 
who  declared  himself  to  be  the  alpha 
and  the  omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end,  the 
first  and  the  last,  the  Almighty,  who  was  dead  but 
is  alive  again,  and  holds  the  keys  of  death  and 
hades  ?  Was  this  the  vision  of  an  impersonal  prin- 
ciple? Was  it  the  Divine  Principle  who  had  been 
dead?  Does  it  not  appear  to  you,  that  Jesus 
the  Christ  is  set  forth  in  God's  word  as  the  per- 
sonalization of  the  Divine  Principle  in  the  person 
and  form  of  a  man  in  order  to  its  becoming  simi- 
larly personalized  through  the  Christ  in  all  hu- 
manity? So  it  appears  to  me.  God  as  Absolute 
Principle  in  the  sense  in  which  he  is  set  forth  in 
Christian  Science  writings,  illustrated  by  the  prin- 
ciple of  mathematics  or  of  music,  is  to  my  con- 
ception unknowable,  unapproachable  and  unlov- 
able; but  as  he  is  revealed  in  Jesus  Christ,  the 
gulf  is  bridged  by  his  becoming  personalized  with- 


100  Two  In  One 

in  us  and  thereby  eliciting  love  to  God  of  all  the 
soul,  heart,  mind  and  strength.  But  I  must  for- 
bear. Please  pardon  what  may  seem  to  you  my 
harsh  critisism  of  the  Christian  Science  philo- 
sophic setting.  I  hasten  to  repeat  that  I  am  in 
perfect  accord  with  its  essential  principles  of  be- 
nig.  My  point  of  difference  consists  in  my  con- 
viction that  this  natural  existence  is  something 
and  means  something.  My  effort  has  been  to 
find  out  what? 

Yours  in  life,  truth  and  love, 

JOHN  A.  WISE. 

The  following  is  my  response : 

My  Dear  Mr.  Wise: 

Yours  received  and  read  with  great  interest. 

How  differently  truth  appeals  to  different 
minds.  You  and  I  accept  the  same  essential 
verities;  but  you  become  mainly  intent  on  their 
scientific  and  rational  aspect,  while  I  am  inter- 
ested only  in  their  practical  application.  I  know 
that  these  teachings  are  true  and  I  know  that 
they  may  be  applied  in  the  amelioration  of  human 
ills  and  with  that  knowledge  I  am  content.  I 
accept  these  truths  of  being  much  as  I  accept 
many  things  and  facts  in  nature.  For  example, 
I  know  that  grain  planted  in  the  ground  will 
grow  and  produce  other  grain.  Thus  knowing, 
without  bothering  myself  about  the  how,  I  plant 


Two  In  One  101 

and  gather  my  harvest  accordingly.  In  the  same 
way  I  have  accepted  and  used  the  truths  of  Chris- 
tian Science.  I  suppose  that  I  shall,  some  time, 
evolve  into  that  rational,  philosophical  under- 
standing which  has  been  your  quest,  but  my  time 
for  that  has  not  come. 

I  have  to  thank  you,  however,  for  one  idea 
which  I  feel  will  be  practically  fruitful  in  my 
life.  I  refer  to  your  enlarged  view  of  the  work 
of  Jesus  Christ.  I  intuitively  perceive  that  in 
this  you  are  right.  I  see  that  he  was  the  way- 
opener  as  well  as  the  way-shower  to  conscious- 
ness of  union  with  God  in  and  for  our  entire 
humanity.  But  yet  I  must  contend  that  the  en- 
tering upon  that  way  is  not,  to  any  soul,  condi- 
tioned upon  his  understanding  of  how  the  way 
was  opened  by  the  Christ.  Through  the  work 
which  Christ  performed  in  the  body  of  our  hu- 
manity, the  Divine  truth  can  reach  all,  even  those 
who  have  never  heard  of  Jesus,  convincing  them 
of  sin,  righteousness  and  judgment,  and  thus  veri- 
fying his  statement  "I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  (if  my 
personal  sense-consciousness  become  one  with 
spirit)  will  draw  all  men  to  myself." 

Now  as  to  the  personalization  of  the  Infinite 
Spirit  of  which  you  speak.  I  recognize  your  dif- 
ficulty, but  for  myself  have  had  no  trouble  here. 
The  personality  of  Jesus  Christ  is  no  aid  to  me  in 
this  respect,  except  as  an  example. 


102  Two  In  One 

His  own  sense  of  personal  realization  of  God 
was  within,  and  altogether  spiritual.  He  realized 
himself  as  one  with  the  Father  and  communed 
with  him  as  His  Son.  So  may  we  in  him.  Paul 
came  to  this  consciousness  as  expressed  in  his  lan- 
guage :  ' '  No  longer  living  am  I  but  in  me  living 
is  Christ."  Thus  the  very  ego  of  self  may  and 
will  become  the  Christ  within,  so  that  the  "I  can 
and  I  will"  of  the  man  becomes  consciously  the 
I  can  and  I  will  of  God.  But  not  in  the  sense 
of  the  Budhistic  Nirvana — the  utter  lapsing  into 
the  infinite  of  one's  self-conscious  individuality. 
In  fact,  the  reverse  is  true.  Paradoxical  as  it 
may  seem,  and  however  little  we  may  be  able 
to  explain  it,  the  more  intense  the  realization  of 
unity  with  God  the  more  pronounced  the  sense 
of  a  selfhood  separate  from  God.  My  idea  is 
that  the  Logos  or  Word  has  eternally  been  the 
vine  and  we  the  branches  therein.  We  have 
only  to  come  to  a  consciousness  in  the  external 
man  of  this  eternal  inherency 

There,  now,  I  find  myself,  in  a  measure,  con- 
tradicting myself,  that  is  philosophizing  about 
the  how  of  Salvation.  Well,  you  are  to  blame. 
You  led  me  into  this  line  of  thought,  so  I  will  not 
apologize. 

Wishing  you  that  peace  that  passeth  knowl- 
edge, I  am 

Yours  in  Christian  love,        MAEY  CLARK. 


Two  In  One  103 

'  *  There  remains  little  more  of  my  life  sketch  to 
add.  Brother  James,  on  a  visit  to  the  East  from 
his  western  home,  came  to  see  me  and,  on  his  in- 
vitation, I  returned  with  him  and  have  been  here 
in  San  Francisco,  since.  This  was  five  years  ago. 
You  and  Berta  were  on  board  the  same  train,  but 
she  being  averse  to  company,  we  did  not  meet.  _- 

"How  strange,"  I  remarked,  "to  think  that, 
during  all  these  years  of  preparation  and  through 
so  many  vicissitudes  and  trials,  we  should  all  the 
time  have  been  steadily  moving  toward  each  other 
to  meet  as  we  have  done." 

"Yes,  the  heart  of  man  deviseth  his  way,  but 
the  Lord  directeth  his  steps.  You  will  observe 
that  my  mind  has  not  been  exercised  with  the 
problems  which  you  have  been  engaged  in  solv- 
ing. I  feel  now,  however,  that  I  shall  be  inter- 
ested with  and  through  you  in  your  investiga- 
tions. I  shall  follow  you  as  my  guide." 

"As  to  that,  I  replied,  "our  progress  hence- 
forth, in  all  lines  of  spiritual  understanding  and 
development  will  doubtless  be  as  mutually  and 
reciprocally  one.  The  feminine  and  masculine 
elements  will  act  as  one  and  be  suplementary  to 
each  other.  Your  experience  suggests  a  very  in- 
teresting train  of  reflection.  I  mean  the  differ- 
ence in  the  point  of  view  and  mode  of  activity  be- 
tween the  masculine  and  the  feminine  mind.  You 
have  already  remarked  how  differently  you  and 


104  Two  In  One 

your  correspondent,  Mr.  Wise,  were  affected  by 
your  studies  in  Christian  Science.  Again^ 
take  ourselves.  We  have  been  travel- 
ing toward  the  same  spiritual  goal;  you 
traversing  the  pathway  of  the  affections  and  re- 
ducing your  attainments  to  practical  use,  while 
I  have  been  toiling  along  the  road  of  the  intel- 
lect making  the  attainment  of  truth  an  end  in 
itself. 

We  have  a  still  further  illustration  in  the  man- 
ner of  thought  and  expression  of  the  Christian 
Science  writings  and  the  acceptance  which  the 
system  has  met  with.  It  comes  through  the  mind 
and  heart  of  woman,  pre-eminently  impressed  with 
the  characteristics  of  feminine  modes  of  thought 
and  finds  its  most  numerous  following  among 
women.  The  author  intuitively  senses  spiritual 
truth  and  its  application  to  life  and  mental  heal- 
ing of  the  body  and  is  so  fully  possessed  of  its 
absolute  reality  as  to  be  utterly  oblivious  of  any 
inconsistency  in  negating  any  and  everything 
that  appears  to  be  out  of  harmony  therewith.  And 
instead  of  attempting  to  reduce  her  knowledge  to 
a  logical  system  as  man  would  have  done,  she  at 
once  gives  herself  up  to  its  practical  application. 

The  great  truths  of  being,  though  now  for  the 
first  time  systematically  applied  in  bodily  heal- 
ing, have  long  been  known  in  the  masculine  think- 
ing world ;  but  the  matter  ended  with  that  knowl- 


Two  In  One  105 

edge.  Over  a  hundred  years  ago,  a  great  thinker 
formulated  in  a  single  sentence  the  entire  philos- 
ophy or  science  of  the  mind's  relation  to  the  body 
in  the  following  language :  '  *  The  mind,  by  a  con- 
stand  influx,  builds  the  body  concordant  and 
synchronous  with  itself,  so  that  the  body,  in- 
teriorly considered,  is  nothing  else  but  the  mind 
exteriorly  organized  for  the  expression  of  its  be-^ 
hests."  Here  we  have  concisely  stated,  in  the 
relation  of  mind  and  body,  the  rationale  of  all 
bodily  healing  by  mental  states.  It  follows  from 
this  statement  that  any  change  in  the  mentality 
registers  itself  in  bodily  conditions.  This  quo- 
tation is  only  a  nugget  from  a  vast  mine  of 
philosophical  truth  in  the  same  line  of  thought  by 
the  same  author.  But  this,  with  the  rest,  has 
been  simply  stored  away  in  masculine  mental 
cabinets  as  intellectual  treasures.  But  now,  in 
the  feminine  awakening,  the  same  truth  comes  to 
woman  and  she  breathes  into  it  the  breath  of  life 
for  the  healing  of  human  ills. 

I  look  upon  Christian  Science  as  a  prominent 
and  characteristic  feature  of  the  general  woman 
movement  of  the  present  age.  It  means  that  the 
influx  of  Divine  life,  which-  is  so  wonderfully 
stirring  and  inspiring  the  heart  and  mind  of 
woman,  is  seeking  expression  through  the  love  ele- 
ment in  humanity  with  reference  to  an  advance 


106  Two  in  One 

of  the  world  to  a  higher  plane  of  spiritual  thought 
and  life.  It  comes  with  woman's  intuitional 
methods  of  seeing  truth  as  actual,  visual  realities 
and  not  as  something  hypothetical  and  to  be  veri- 
fied by  logical  processes.  To  be  sure,  men  are 
co-operating  in  the  propagation  of  Christian 
Science,  but  it  is  only  as  they  are  inspired  thereto 
And  directed  by  the  feminine  mind  and  heart.  By 
reason  of  the  seeming  logical  inharmony  of  its 
method  of  presentation  with  the  facts  of  external 
.existence,  it  is  open  to  the  shafts  of  ridicule  of 
those  who  look  no  deeper  than  the  surface.  But 
/  the  time  draws  near  when  the  femi- 

•  Of  man  and  the  truth  will  stand  forth  cleared  of 

4(^£ 
„*   nine      spiritual      intentions      of      woman     will 

-  be  wedded  to  the  masculine  rationality 
^  all  scientific  and  philosophic  inconsistencies  and 
obscurities,  just  as  objects  of  vision  seen  through 
the  co-ordinate  lenses  of  a  stereoscope  appear  in 
relief  and  distinctness.  Christian  Science  comes 
as  a  John  the  Baptist  crying  in  the  Wilderness  of 
this  sensuous  age:  "Prepare  ye  the  way  for  a 
coming  understanding  and  baptism  of  the  Spirit, 
and  a  consequent  personalized  Divine  indwelling 
Power,  the  latchet  of  whose  shoes  I  am  unworthy 
to  unloose. " 

The  materialism  of  the  age  has  about  reached 
its  limit.      It  is  being  weighed  in  the  balance  and 


Two  In  One  107 

found  wanting.  Its  fruits  are  manifest  in  the 
present  abounding  and  increasing  agnosticism 
which  holds  to  the  impossibility  of  knowing  cer- 
tainly anything  beyond  the  sphere  of  the  physical 
senses  and  which,  therefore,  reduces  all  good  and 
all  success  to  worldly  attainment.  The  tide  of  a 
more  spiritual  method  of  thought  and  a  truer 
standard  of  existence  has  set  in.  Hence  the  mod- 
ern psychic  movement  of  which  Christian  Science 
is  a  most  prominent  feature.  The  day  of  de- 
cision has  come  as  to  whether  life  and  force  are 
primarily  resident  in  and  the  manifestation  of, 
spirit,  as  declared  by  the  Apostle  Paul,  or  in  and 
of  the  outer  world  of  phenomena,  as  held  by  mod- 
ern materialism.  The  church  is  being  challenged 
to  show  why  she  does  not  come  into  conscious 
relation  with  the  spirit  realm  of  causation  and  ex- 
ercise its  spiritual  forces  in  bodily  healing  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  commission  and  command  of 
her  Master.  The  question  before  the  church  de- 
manding answer  is  not  whether  Mrs.  Eddy's  ne- 
gational  methods  of  dealing  with  the  outer  realm 
of  existence  is  in  accordance  with  science  and  rea- 
son, but  whether  the  foundation  principles  set 
forth  in  hers  and  other  writings  are  a  true  state- 
ment of  the  eternal  laws  of  being,  and  therefore 
the  efficient  means,  as  is  claimed,  for  the  doing  the 


108  Two  In  One 

works  which  Christ  promised  his  followers  they 
should  do  and  which  he  commanded  them  to  do. 
Who  or  what  Mrs.  Eddy  or  any  other  person  may 
be,  is  altogether  aside  from  the  point  at  issue. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

It  was  the  custom  of  Mrs.  Morven  and  myself  to 
spend  a  social  evening,  weekly,  at  the  residence 
of  Mr.  Clark.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  Mr. 
Priestly,  a  Swedenborgian  minister,  and  Mr.  Cal- 
vin, pastor  of  a  Presbyterian  church  in  Oakland, 
were  invited  to  meet  us.  We  found  them  very 
interesting  companions,  both  being  persons  of  po- 
lite address  and  extensive  learning. 

The  experiences  and  romantic  meeting  of  my 
wife  and  myself  having  been  referred  to,  Mr.  Cal- 
vin, addressing  us,  said,  " Would  you  object  to 
giving  a  brief  outline  of  your  lives?  From  what 
I  have  learned,  I  have  become  very  much  inter- 
ested. " 

"I  understand, "  interposed  Mr.  Priestly,  "that 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morven  have  written  out  their  ex- 
periences in  full.  I  would  suggest  that  they 
favor  us  by  reading  such  portions  of  their  writing 
as  may  be  agreeable  to  them.  I  am  sure  it  would 
prove  profitable  as  well  as  interesting  to  all." 

On  consultation  with  my  wife,  we  agreed  to 
read  portions  of  our  life  sketches  as  requested, 
stipulating  that  no  comments  should  be  made 
thereon  or  questions  asked  during  the  reading.  So 


110  Two  In  One 

an  evening  was  fixed  upon  for  the  first  install- 
ment and  was  consumed  by  the  reading  of  my 
paper. 

At  the  close  of  Mrs.  Morven  's  reading  at  the  fol- 
lowing meeting,  a  long  and  awkward  silence  en- 
sued. At  length,  Mr.  Calvin,  who  had  given  the 
most  earnest  attention,  with  a  serio-comic  airr 
said,  "Well,  your  experiences  have  certainly  been 
very  remarkable,  and  your  theological  specula- 
tions are  very  extraordinary.  If  we  could  go 
back  a  few  years  I  should  at  once  move  to  have 
you  both  tried  for  heresy.  If  the  hour  were  not 
so  late,  I  should  like  to  challenge  some  of  your 
positions,  or  at  least  have  you  present  some  of 
your  views  more  fully. " 

It  was  decided  that  we  should  again  meet  on 
the  following  Wednesday  evening,  and  that 
"God"  should  be  the  subject  for  discussion,  I 
leading,  on  which  occasion  the  following  was 

MY  ADDRESS: 

"I  take  it  that  the  task  assigned  me  is  a  brief 
statement  of  the  essential  features  of  my  subject, 
as  a  means  of  getting  it  fairly  before  us  for  dis- 
cussion. I  shall  therefore  treat  it  briefly,  and  in 
the  most  general  way. 

What  I  have  to  say  may  be  comprised  under 
three  divisions,  viz.,  The  Allness,  the  Duality,  and 
the  Personality  of  God. 


Two  In  One  111 

First,  God  is  the  All-in-all.  He  is  the  All  of 
life,  substance,  intelligence,  power  and  reality  in 
the  universe.  There  is  actually  naught  but  God. 
That  is,  all  is  God,  either  in  substance  or  in  mani- 
festation. All  creation  is  the  one  Infinite  Life 
and  Power  displaying  or  revealing  itself.  The 
forces  of  the  inorganic  world — light,  heat,  gravi- 
tation, electricity,  magnetism,  cohesion,  chemical 
affinity,  as  well  as  the  life  of  the  plant,  the  animal 
and  man,  are  naught  else  than  the  one  central, 
absolute  Force  and  Life  manifesting  itself  in 
these  various  modes  and  forms.  They  are  the 
Divine  thought  objectified — made  visible. 

The  time  was  when  there  was  no  time — when 
our  solar  system  (and  the  same  may  be  said  of 
all  others)  was  not  in  existence,  and  hence  what 
we  call  time,  viz.:  the  progressions  of  the  sea- 
sons, and  the  succession  of  day  and  night  by 
which  time  is  indicated,  was  not.  "What  was? — 
GOD? 

•  Then  came  the  time  (if  we  may  so  speak)  when 
the  solar  system,  the  sun  with  its  revolving  plan- 
ets, apepared.  "God  spake,  and  it  was  done;  He 
commanded,  and  it  stood  fast."  He  said,  "Let 
there  be  light,"  and  light  was.  Whatever  sub- 
stance or  life  this  creation  involved  or  implied 
could  be  no  other  than  that  of  the  one  and  only 
substance.  All  this  outer  display  could  be  no 
other  than  God  in  expression.  If  we  imagine 


112  Two  In  One 

matter  as  substance,  discreted  from  the  one  prime 
source,  still  its  existence  can  be  only  the  life  and 
principle  within  them. 

If  we  say  (which  is  the  truth)  that  all  phe- 
nomena are  forms  for  the  receiving  and  manifest- 
ing of  the  Infinite  Life,  yet  those  very  forms  must 
be  no  less  of  the  Infinite  Life  than  the  animating 
principle  within  them. 

In  fact,  there  is  no  way  of  conceiving  anything 
else  than  God  in  the  universe,  but  by  assuming 
that  what  we  call  matter  has  ever  existed  and  is 
not  a  creation  of  God. 

Science  has  latterly  come  to  our  aid  in  getting 
at  this  truth.  As  God  is  One,  so  all  manifesta- 
tions of  Himself  are  One,  and  are  so  interrelated 
that  a  knowledge  of  one  part  or  department  of 
such  manifestation  is  an  aid  to  the  understanding 
of  others.  God  has  given  a  revelation  of  Himself 
in  the  external  world  as  well  as  in  man.  The  one 
revelation  is  objective  and  the  other  subjective. 
They  must  and  do  correspond  to  each  other.  If 
God  is  the  All,  and  Nature  is  a  revelation  of  him, 
then  the  objective  universe  in  its  laws,  facts  and 
forces,  must  show  forth  this  universal  truth.  And 
so  it  does. 

Science  has,  by  analysis,  stepped  up  from  the 
mineral  matters  of  the  earth,  through  the  suc- 
cessive forces  of  the  so-called  chemical  atoms, 
electricity,  light  and  heat  and  the  ether  of  the 


Two  In  One  113 

sun,  and  arrived  at  the  postulate  of  an  Infinite 
Energy  as  the  prime  source  and  cause  of  all,  the 
phenomenal  universe  being  an  effect  of  this  Su- 
preme Cause.  There  is  not,  nor  can  be,  any  other 
cause  of  anything.  Its  first  expressions  are  the 
suns  of  the  universe.  The  solar  forces,  by  a 
law  which  scientists  term  the  law  of  correlation, 
become  light  and  heat  within  the  atmosphere  of 
the  planets,  these  again  by  the  same  law  becoming 
electricity,  which  in  turn  is  transformed  into  the 
chemical  forces,  and  these  finally  are  ultimated 
into  the  so-called  solid  matters  of  the  planets. 

Thus  there  is  a  regular  chain  of  descent  from 
the  primal  force  outward.  Conceive  for  a  mo- 
ment the  cessation  of  the  outflow  from  this  cen- 
tral source  and  there  would  be  a  blank  in  crea- 
tion, just  as  shutting  off  the  current  at  the  dy- 
namo leaves  a  city  in  darkness. 

Hence  it  follows  that  what  we  call  matter  is, 
as  scientists  declare,  only  force.  There  is  no  sub- 
stance underlying  it.  It  is  merely  force  acting 
so  and  so.  And  further,  it  follows  that  from  the 
sun  to  the  atom,  these  forces  of  nature  are  in 
reality  only  the  forces  of  the  Infinite  Energy  so 
and  so  expressing  themselves.  The  same  is  true 
of  the  life  of  all  organisms,  from  the  vegetable 
up  to  man.  Hence  this  Infinite  Energy  of  the 
scientists  is  the  All-in-all  of  existence. 

Now,  we  have  only  to  endue  "this  Infinite  En- 


114  Two  In  One 

ergy  with  the  attributes  of  love,  intelligence  and 
will,  to  identify  it  with  what  religion  terms  the 
Heavenly  Father,  in  whom  we  live,  move  and  have 
being. 

If  need  be,  we  might  reason  further  from  the 
data  afforded  by  science,  thus :  God  is  the  cause  -f 
all  nature  is  the  effect.  The  effect  must  bear  the 
lineaments  of  its  cause.  In  fact,  it  is  the  ex- 
pression of  the  cause,  and  can  have  nothing  in  it 
which  the  cause  has  not.  Man  is  the  crowning 
effect  in  nature. 

Whatever  are  the  essential  qualities  in  man 
must  be  an  impartation  of  God  to  him ;  or  rather, 
as  man's  life  is  the  very  life  of  God  in  him,  we 
may  reason  back  from  the  constitution  of  man  to 
the  being  of  God.  But  man  is  constituted  of  the 
faculties  of  love,  thought  and  will.  If  these 
powers  are  the  expression  of  God's  life  in  him,, 
then  his  Creator  is  Infinite  Love,  Wisdom  and 
Power.  The  following  quotation  from  a  promi- 
nent writer  is  pertinent  in  this  connection: 

"  Nature  is  dual.  There  is  male  and  female,  pos- 
itive and  negative,  right  and  left,  action  and  re- 
action, in  everything.  But  Nature  is  the  off- 
spring of  God,  therefore  God  is  also  dual.  Two« 
things  constitute  the  Divine:  these  are  Love  and 
Wisdom.  All  the  attributes  that  theologians 
usually  ascribe  to  God  are  attributes  of  these. 
Is  infinity  an  attribute  of  God?  Eternity?  Om- 


Two  In  One  115 

nipotence?  Immutability?  Purity?  Unity?  Love 
and  Wisdom  are  all  these.  But  love  and  wis- 
dom are  more  than  attributes  of  God;  they  are 
God.  God  is  love.  That  love  is  substance — the 
one  eternal  substance  of  the  universe;  and  that 
substance  has  form;  and  that  form  is  wisdom. 
Wisdom  is  the  quality,  the  expression,  the  Logos, 
the  word,  of  Love.  *  *  *  Divine  Love  is  the 
origin  of  all  life;  yea,  it  is  itself  the  life  and  the 
only  life.  Love  or  life  flowing  out  from  God, 
flows  into  all  the  planes  of  the  spiritual  universe 
with  vibrations  inconceivable;  and  proceeding 
downward  and  outward,'  into  the  realm  of  na- 
ture, it  assumes  the  form  of  magnetic  and  electric 
forces,  vibrating,  whirling  and  collecting  in  cen- 
ters of  force,  thus  filling  the  deep  spaces  of  dark- 
ness with  radiant  light.  The  intense  solar  radia- 
tions are  possible  only  by  virtue  of  the  mighty 
spiritual  forces  flowing  into  them  from  Divine 
Love,  directed  and  qualified  by  Divine  Wisdom. 
From  the  vitalizing  breath  of  Divine  Love  and 
Wisdom,  the  suns  give  birth  to  planets,  and  these 
in  turn  bring  forth  an  infinite  variety  of  mani- 
festations of  life  along  an  ascending  scale  from 
mineral  to  man.  *  *  *  The  natural  suns  are 
correspondents  of  the  spiritual  sun  (the  Divine 
Love  as  it  appears  to  the  angels).  On  the  physical 
plane,  they  appear  to  be  many,  and  separated  by 
immense  distances;  but  the  spiritual  sun  from 


116  Two  In  One 

which  they  draw  their  vitality  is  one.  It  is  inde- 
pendent of  space,  and  yet  flows  into  all  space.  It 
makes  no  account  of  distances;  for  above  the 
plane  of  matter  there  are  no  distances  as  we  ac- 
count distance.  The  physical  suns  are  dual,  con- 
sisting of  heat  and  light,  because  the  spiritual  sun 
is  dual,  consisting  of  love  and  wisdom.  Heat 
on  the  physical  plane  is  analogous  to  love  on  the 
spiritual  plane,  and  light  on  the  physical  plane 
is  analogous  to  wisdom  on  the  spiritual  plane. " 
I  now  raise  the  question  as  to  the  personality  of 
the  Divine  Being.  It  may  be  inferred  that  the 
foregoing  considerations  settle  the  question,  on 
the  ground  that  the  attributes  of  love,  intelligence 
and  will  constitute  personality ;  and  that  these  be- 
ing infinitely  inherent  in  God  we  must  ascribe  to 
Him  infinite  personality.  But  does  not  infinite 
person  imply  a  contradiction  in  terms?  What  does 
the  word  person  mean?  Is  not  limitation  im- 
plied in  the  very  nature  of  the  term?  Can  we 
think  of  a  person  without  the  idea  of  limitation? 
To  avoid  this  confusion  of  thought,  and  the 
danger  of  thinking  of  God  as  finite,  would  it  not 
be  better  to  use  some  other  term?  The  word 
human,  or  man,  is  less  objectionable.  God  is  the 
Absolute  Man.  He  is  Love,  Wisdom,  and  Power. 
Man  is  a  form  receptive  of  these  inflowing  Divine 
forces,  and  by  reason  thereof  is  human,  or  man. 
God's  infinite  human  becomes  finited  in  man.  Man 


Two  In  One  117 

is  man,  because  God  is  the  Supreme  Man,  the 
Maximus  Homo  of  Swedenborg. 

The  question  is  pertinent  here :  If  the  being  an 
organic  form  receptive  of  the  Divine  life  consti- 
tutes man,  why  is  not  the  same  true  of  vegetable 
and  animal  forms  ?  The  answer  is  that  man  alone 
is  endowed  with  the  capacity  to  perceive  the 
source  of  his  life,  to  reciprocate  the  Divine  love, 
and  thereby  to  come  into  conscious  unity  with 
God.  The  supernal  life  flows  into  and  through 
the  animal,  manifesting  itself  according  to  the 
form  somewhat  as  the  wind  blowing  affects  the 
aeolian  harp.  All  below  man  are  in  their  degree 
images  of  their  Creator,  but  are  only  adumbra- 
tions of  man,  the  perfect  image. 

It  is  because  of  man's  ability  to  appropriate 
God's  life,  that  his  individual  form  is  permanent, 
or  as  the  term  is,  immortal.  The  brute  has  no 
such  power,  and  so  its  existence  as  an  individual 
form  ceases  with  the  dissolution  of  the  body.  Man 
is  endowed  with  capacities  by  which  he  can  so 
apprehend  the  source  of  his  life  as  to  become  one 
in  consciousness  therewith,  and  thus  perpetuate 
his  individual  consciousness  and  character  beyond 
the  dissolution  of  the  organic  form  of  the  material 
body.  Consciousness  of  God  as  the  life  is  the 
law  of  permanency.  The  soul  of  man  is  so  con- 
stituted that  within  the  deepest  ground  of  its  be- 
ing, under  all  conditions,  it  is  so  receptive  of  the 


118  Two  In  One 

Divine  inflowing  as  not  to  be  able  to  divest  itself 
utterly  of  the  sense  of  a  Supreme  Being.  An 
atheist,  in  the  full  meaning  of  the  term,  never  was 
nor  can  be. 

Now,  one  word  as  to  the  practical  importance  of 
our  theme.  Christ  said,  "This  is  eternal  life,  to 
know  Thee,  the  only  true  (real)  God,  and  Jesus 
Christ  (God  in  the  natural  degree  of  humanity), 
whom  thou  hast  sent.  The  knowledge  of  God 
here  referred  to  is  a  conscious  realization  of  God 
as  the  very  life  of  our  lives,  the  very  soul  of  our 
souls,  the  very  being  of  ourselves.  It  is  the 
knowledge  of  God  as  being  our  real  higher  selves. 
But  the  thought  of  our  relation  to  God  merely 
as  an  external  personality  is  a  bar  to  this  con- 
scious oneness  of  which  Christ  speaks, — "I  in 
Thee,  and  Thou  in  me." 

The  Lord  said  that  it  was  expedient  that  he  go 
away  and  thus  remove  from  his  disciples  his  per- 
sonal form  as  the  object  of  their  contemplation 
and  adoration,  in  order  that  they  might  realize 
God  as  their  inmost  life,  as  the  Comforter  which 
should  abide  with  them  and  in  them.  Christ 's 
work  as  Saviour  had  been  to  remove  obstructions, 
deliver  the  human  mind  from  the  thralldom  of  the 
devil,  and  so  to  bring  man  into  rapport  with  the 
Heavenly  Father,  that  all  might  come  into  con- 
scious unity  with  him  as  their  indwelling  life.  He 
is  the  vine,  of  which  we  are  branches;  the  head, 


Two  In  One  119 

of  which  we  are  the  members.  The  Apostle  Paul 
expressed  the  vital  truth  of  the  matter  in  the 
language,  ' '  Henceforth  know  we  no  man  after  the 
flesh;  yea,  though  we  have  known  Christ  after 
the  flesh,  yet  now  know  we  him  no  more;"  and 
again,  "No  longer  living  am  I,  but  in  me  living  is 
Christ. " 

In  order  to  think  properly  of  God  and  spiritual 
things,  three  things  must  be  eliminated  from  our 
thought,  viz.  :What  is  of  space,  what  is  of  time, 
and  what  is  of  person.  If  we  think  of  God  as  a 
person  we  think  of  him  as  having  stature,  local 
dimensions,  and  habitation.  And  if  we  think  of 
him  as  occupying  space,  or  subject  to  time,  we 
think  of  him  as  person.  To  be  sure,  we  may 
think  of  him  as  filling  all  space,  but  in  that  case 
our  idea  is  that  the  very  essence  of  his  being  is 
material,  and  every  manifestation  of  God  in  so 
far,  is  God.  From  this  kind  of  thought  origin- 
ated idolatry,  in  which  the  heavenly  bodies  and 
animals  became  subjects  of  worship.  The  same 
cult  is  today  leading  to  an  obliteration  of  all  dis- 
tinction between  good  and  evil  among  its  votaries. 
It  was  this  error  at  which  the  second  Command- 
ment was  leveled, — "Thou  shalt  not  make  upto 
thee  any  graven  image,  or  any  likeness  of  any- 
thing in  the  heavens  above,  or  upon  the  earth 
beneath,  or  in  the  waters  under  the  earth."  The 
meaning  is  that  we  must  not  have  in  the  mind 


120  Two  In  One 

any  mental  picture  of  the  Infinite  One,  thus  giv- 
ing the  idea  of  limitation.  But  if  we  think  of 
him  in  any  other  way  than  as  the  essence  and 
principle  of  all  things,  as  Love  and  Wisdom,  we 
violate  this  command,  we  erect  an  image  and 
worship  it. 

This  closes  my  writing.  So  brief  a  survey 
must,  of  course,  be  lacking  in  fullness  and  clear- 
ness. I  should  be  pleased,  by  way  of  explana- 
tion, to  answer  any  questions,  as  far  as  I  may  be 
able." 

"That  matter  of  the  Divine  personality  is  a 
very  vital  one  to  me,"  said  Mr.  Calvin.  "I  would 
like  to  ask  a  question  or  two  on  that  subject.  Who 
was  Jesus  Christ?" 

"He  was  the  Word  made  flesh." 

"Was  He  Divine?" 

"He  was  God  manifest  in  the  flesh.  In  Him 
dwelt  all  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodily." 

"Was  he  a  person?" 

"He  was." 

"Then,  thinking  of  Him  as  God,  do  we  not 
think  of  God  as  a  person?" 

"Doubtless  many  do.  But  is  not  the  deifica- 
tion of  the  man  Jesus,  in  the  thought,  the  en- 
throning of  a  finite  being  as  the  God  of  the  uni- 
verse? To  see  the  true  God  in  Jesus  Christ  we 
should,  I  think,  regard  that  historic  person  as 
only  the  visible  type-appearance  or  symbol.  He 


Two  In  One  121 

was  the  visible  manifestation  to  us  of  God's  hu- 
manity— not  of  a  personality.  He  was  man, 
certainly,  or  he  would  not  have  been  God.  He 
was  the  Supreme  Humanity  in  finite  expression. 
But  to  localize  and  spatialize  the  being  or  es- 
sence of  God  in  that  finite  form  is  surely  a  limit- 
ation." 

"Is  not  our  love  for  Christ  and  God,  the  love  of 
person  T" 

"I  think  not.  We  do  not  love  the  form,  but 
the  good  proceeding  from  Him.  We  should  think 
of  God  as  essentially  Divine  Love  and  Wisdom — 
as  Principle — as  the  life  of  all  things;  and  of 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  as  that  Divine  essence  ob- 
jectified to  the  human  vision  in  human  form. 
Such  thought  brings  the  realization  that  our  true 
internal  self  is  an  individualization  of  this  eternal 
principle  (objectified  in  Christ)  and  thus  the  en- 
tire soul,  heart,  mind  and  strength  become  con- 
centrated upon  our  Heavenly  Father  in  one  su- 
preme love.  With  the  thought  of  God  as  per- 
sonal, and  therefore  external,  such  love  is  impos- 
sible." 

In  John's  Gospel  we  read,  "In  the  beginning 
was  the  Word  (Logos)  and  the  Word  was  with 
God  and  the  Word  was  God."  And  again,  "The 
Word  was  made  flesh."  If  man  has,  as  a  spirit- 
ual being,  had  existence  in  the  Word  from 
eternity  (as  I  am  profoundly  convinced  is  the 


122  Two  In  One 

truth)  then  each  individual  has  been  eternally  as 
a  branch  of  the  Vine.  The  Logos  is  the  Infinite 
man  in  whom  has  eternally  inhered  all  individual 
men,  at  least  as  germinal  ideas,  having  in  them- 
selves the  potentiality  of  becoming  personalized 
as  self-conscious  individuals. 

Here,  in  this  world  of  nature,  they  take  on 
such  personal  existence.  Now,  what  can  be  meant 
by  the  Supreme  Word  as  a  whole  becoming  thus 
personalized?  We  can  have  no  other  conception 
of  it  than  that  of  a  universal  influx  of  Divine  life 
into  the  race  as  a  body  and  its  focalization  in  the 
form  of  a  human  being. 

Such  I  apprehend  was  Christ  Jesus.  From  and 
through  this  Divinized  or  glorified  personality, 
radiates  the  Divine  Spirit  of  Truth  awakening  the 
natural  mind  into  consciousness  of  the  real  and 
eternal  self  as  a  branch  in  the  vine,  and  so  Christ 
becomes  Divinity  personalized  to  the  conscious- 
ness of  every  one  that  receives  him ;  as  the  Apostle 
writes,  he  gives  them  power  to  become  Sons  of  God. 

"Mr.  Morven's  paper/'  said  Mr.  Clark,  "sug- 
gests a  number  of  questions  of  interest  to  me  re- 
lating to  God,  man  and  creation,  all  of  which  are 
BO  interrelated  that  one  cannot  be  understood  but 
in  the  light  of  the  others. 

I  suggest  that  we  meet  again  next  Wednesday 
evening  and  that  he  give  us  his  views  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Creation/1 


CHAPTER  VII. 

God  is  the  All.  This  truth  is  fundamental  to 
all  true  thought. 

Creation  is  a  manifestation  of  God — a  going 
out  of  the  Divine  into  visible  form.  The  object 
of  creation  is  the  bringing  into  being  moral  in- 
telligences who  shall,  by  the  knowledge  of  their 
Creator  and  by  reciprocation  of  His  love,  become 
consciously  one  with  him  and  enjoy  the  fullness 
of  His  life. 

The  method  of  doing  this  is  visually  manifest 
in  the  sun,  the  planet  on  which  we  live,  and  the 
mode  of  man's  birth  and  life  development.  The 
sun  is  the  central  source  of  all  life  and  force  upon 
the  earth.  Blot  out  the  sun  and  the  earth  with 
all  appertaining  to  it  would  in  a  moment  cease 
to  be. 

Man  comes  into  existence  by  man,  and  thus  each 
generation  flows  out  from  the  womb  of  the  pre- 
ceding in  one  constant,  ever  during  stream. 

As  we  look  abroad  from  our  earth  habitation, 
we  see  on  all  sides  innumerable  bright,  scintil- 
lating objects,  of  whose  character,  distance  and 
purpose  the  eye  tells  us  nothing.  But  science 
assures  us  that  these  glittering  points,  which  we 


124  Two  In  One 

call  stars,  are  in  fact  other  suns,  stretching  away 
to  depths  in  space  inconceivable.  Science  has 
learned  that  the  laws  of  Nature  are  uniform ;  and 
hence  we  must  conclude  that  what  we  can  see  and 
know  here  in  our  little  planet,  of  physical  exist- 
ence in  its  ongoings  and  purposes,  is  a  miniature 
representation  of  the  entire  universe. 

The  stars,  like  our  sun,  are  centers  of  solar 
systems.  Planets  revolve  around  these  suns  and 
on  these  planets  are  born  intelligent  beings,  who, 
through  the  revelation  of  God  in  the  phenomenal 
world  around  them  and  through  direct  conscious- 
ness of  God  in  them,  grow  into  a  Divine  manhood, 
fashioned  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  the  In- 
finite Father. 

In  our  finite  way  of  thinking,  we  are  com- 
pelled to  postulate  a  spiritual  center  to  the  uni- 
verse— a  point  of  life  and  force  radiation,  bearing 
a  relation  to  all  creation  similar  to  that  of  the 
sun  to  the  planets.  We  may  term  this  the  spir- 
itual sun.  All  things  in  creation  must  bear  the 
image  of  their  Divine  source,  and  hence  the  first 
expressions  of  God  on  the  plane  of  creation  are 
the  central  suns  with  their  attendant  planets. 

The  law  of  the  formation  of  these  solar  sys- 
tems, termed  cosmology,  perhaps  we  may  not  fully 
comprehend.  But  the  knowledge  we  have  of  the 
interior  forces  of  nature  in  the  production  of  light 
and  heat,  of  sound,  of  electricity,  etc.,  afford  a 


Two  In  One  125 

probable  clue,  following  which  we  shall  not  go  far 
estray. 

Professor  Bixby  says,  "Scientific  research,  in 
these  recent  years,  has  disclosed  to  us  sounds  that 
we  cannot  hear,  odors  we  cannot  smell,  light  and 
various  physical  energies  to  which  we  are  in- 
sensible, yet  which  by  their  indirect  action  and 
effects  compel  us  as  reasonable  beings  to  recog- 
nize their  existence. " 

These  and  other  phenomena  find  their  explana- 
tion only  in  the  assumption  of  the  undulations  of 
a  medium  of  wonderful  qualities  universally  per- 
vading space,  called  ether.  It  is  infinitely  more 
subtle  than  the  thinnest  gas,  and  yet  has  the  prop- 
erties of  a  solid,  is  infinitely  elastic,  has  a  pressure 
millions  of  times  that  of  gravity,  and  its  mag- 
nitude is  commensurate  with  all  space.  In  this 
ether  ocean  the  physical  universe  is  immersed. 

Whence  this  all-pervading,  wonderful  ether? 
The  answer  is,  from  the  Divine  center.  It  is  the 
first  Divine  manifestation,  and  is  the  first  step 
toward  creation.  Every  known  fact  and  law 
goes  to  prove  that  the  suns  are  merely  this  ether 
concentrated  or  focalized. 

First,  the  sun's  undiminished  and  undiminish- 
ing  supply  of  force,  or  of  light  and  heat,  cannot 
be  accounted  for  otherwise  than  by  the  assump- 
tion of  a  constant  efflux  from  the  fountain  of  In- 
finite Energy  underlying  all  phenomena. 


126  Two  In  One 

The  idea  that  the  sun  is  a  great  ball  of  fire,  fed 
by  outside  falling  material,  and  radiating  its  heat 
and  light  as  an  incandescent  body  is  altogether 
untenable,  if  not  absurd. 

Second,  we  have  already  seen  that  science  has 
traced  the  several  forces  of  nature,  from  the  min- 
eral up  to  the  sun,  as  an  ascending  series  of  trans- 
formations, beneath  and  beyond  which  is  the  In- 
finite Energy,  the  source  of  all  things.  The  out- 
going force  of  the  sun  is  not  light  and  heat  as 
such,  but  a  force  which  within  the  earthly  atmos- 
phere becomes  light  and  heat.  This  is  proved 
by  the  fact  that  all  space  outside  the  earth's 
atmosphere  is  absolute  cold  and  darkness,  and  by 
the  fact  that  the  denser  the  atmosphere  the 
greater  the  heat. 

Third,  new  matters  are  continually  being  formed 
within  our  earth's  atmosphere  by  the  change  of 
light  and  heat  into  electricity,  this  into  the  chem- 
ical elements,  and  these  into  the  solid  substances 
of  the  globe. 

Now,  by  the  old  adage,  "from  one,  learn  all," 
we  can,  from  this  matter  formation  on  a  small 
scale,  reason  to  the  larger.  If  the  sun  is  a  focal 
center  of  radiating  energy  .which  by  transforma- 
tion becomes  forces  and  concreted  substances  of 
the  earth,  then  why  may  we  not — yea,  why  must 
we  not,  if  God's  laws  are  uniform — conclude  that 


Two  In  One  127 

the  entire  body  of  his  various  attendant  planets 
were  formed  in  like  manner? 

Then,  to  recapitulate,  we  must  conceive  of  the 
physical  universe  as  flowing  out  from  an  Infinite 
center  of  spiritual  force,  which  may  be  imaged 
to  our  finite  minds  as  a  central  sun.  But  we 
should  remember  that  as  spirit  is  not  limited  by 
spatial  conditions,  this  Infinite  spiritual  center  is 
not  located  in  space.  Its  center  is  everywhere, 
and  its  circumference  nowhere.  The  all  of  the 
Infinite  is  as  much  in  the  tiny  atom  as  in  the  uni- 
verse— is  as  complete  in  an  individual  as  in  the 
sum  of  all  individuals. 

Radiating  from  this  center  and  pervading  all 
space  and  all  things,  is  a  luminous- ether,  which 
we  may  venture  to  term  pure  force.  By  concen- 
tration this  becomes  solar  centers,  and  thence  by 
radiation  and  by  the  law  of  correlation  the  forces 
of  this  prime  atmosphere  are  changed  into  suc- 
cessive atmospheres  of  light  and  heat,  electricity, 
chemical  force,  and  lastly,  is  concreted  into  the 
solid  substances  of  the  planet,  which  we  term 
matter.  And  here  on  this  outmost  and  lowest 
plane  man  emerges  into  existence  as  a  self-con- 
scious individuality. 

But  let  us  go  a  step  further  back,  and  ask  by  what 
law  did  and  does  this  prime  ether  force  become 
convergent  into  a  focus  and  thence  evolve  its 
planets,  inhabited  by  organic  life?  The  answer 


128  Two  In  One 

is  found  in  the  law  of  evolution.  By  this  I  mean 
the  Infinite  One  evolving  into  individual  expres- 
sions of  Himself,  with  the  consequent  and  cor- 
respondent external  visible  forms  and  physical 
conditions  incident  to  such  individual  existences 
as  seen  in  the  physical  universe.  These  individ- 
ualities are  man.  All  creation  from  the  begin- 
ning looked  to  this  result  of  a  being  in  God's 
image  and  likeness.  Man  is  composed  of  spirit, 
soul  and  body,  or,  in  the  original  Biblical  termin- 
ology, pneuma,  psuke  and  soma.  As  used  in  the 
Bible  these  terms  have  a  definite  sense,  and  are 
never  interchangeable.  Pneuma,  or  spirit,  is  of 
the  essence  of  Deity,  and  therefore  uncreate  and 
eternal.  As  spirit,  man  always  was  in  and  of 
God,  if  not  as  a  self-conscious  individual,  unques- 
tionably as  a  germinal  personality  with  the  ca- 
pacity of  development  through  birth  into  time  and 
space  conditions,  into  actual  personality.  By 
birth,  the  waiting  spiritual  form  takes  to  itself  a 
seemingly  independent  self-existence  in  which  the 
Divine  life  becomes,  to  self-consciousness,  its  very 
own.  At  first,  it  is  but  a  bundle  of  capacities. 
But  by  the  action  of  the  external  world  its  senses 
are  awakened  to  action ;  thence  it  takes  on  knowl- 
edge of  its  relations  to  the  facts  and  laws  of  the 
outside  world,  of  things  and  persons,  finally  grow- 
ing into  consciousness  of  its  life  and  home  in  God, 
and  by  voluntary  reception  of  His  life  becoming 


Two  In  One  129 

one  with  the  Infinite  life.  Thus  the  object  of 
creation  is  attained,  viz.,  a  personalized  expres- 
sion of  God,  an  individualization  of  the  Infinite 
One,  the  Word  made  flesh. 

Individual  development  is  an  epitome  of  the  en- 
tire cosmic  evolution.  The  evolution  of  a  solar 
system  from  the  first  focalizing  of  the  ether  forces 
into  a  central  sun,  and  the  formation  of  the 
chaotic  matters  of  the  planets  with  their  aggre- 
gation into  solid  bodies,  and  thence  the  outbirth 
of  vegetation  and  animal  life,  on  up  to  the  point 
where  man  steps  forth  as  an  individual  to  be  the 
conscious  lord  of  creation — the  entire  process 
through  all  this  long  series  of  aeons  is  simply 
that  of  a  solar  humanity  inherent  in  God  from 
eternity,  evoldving  toward  individualization.  As 
the  life  of  the  individual  commences  with  a  germ 
and  through  successive  stages  organizes  a  body, 
then  after  birth  advances  step  by  step  from  blank 
nothingness  to  a  Divine  manhood,  so  the  entire 
solar  humanity,  of  which  the  individual  is  a  part, 
began  its  evolution  in  the  germ  of  a  central  sun, 
and  advanced  step  by  step  in  its  enfoldment. 
Thus,  then,  it  is  manifest  that  all  the  physical 
phenomena  of  worlds  and  systems  of  worlds  are 
but  the  outbirthed  appearance  of  spirit  coming  to 
itself  in  the  form  of  personalities. 

If,  as  we  have  already  seen,  all  substance  is 
spirit,  then  all  appearances  in  Nature  are  but 


130  Two  In  One 

spirit  making  itself  visible  or  somehow  manifest. 
Where  there  is  no  humanity  there  can  be  no  suns 
or  planets.  To  ask  if  a  world  is  inhabited  is  as 
rational  as  to  ask  if  a  human  body  which  we  see 
walking  about  is  inhabited  by  a  soul.  Just  as 
the  individual  soul  and  body  is  the  externaliza- 
tion  of  the  spirit,  so  a  world  is  the  manifestation 
of  an  entire  planetary  humanity ;  and  a  solar  sys- 
tem, of  a  band  or  family  of  related  humanities. 

Then  we  must  conceive  of  our  race  and  of  the 
dwellers  upon  the  several  orbs  constituting  our 
solar  system,  first  as  eternal  spiritual  existences  in 
God — thence  in  the  process  of  the  universe  un- 
foldment,  of  their  being  pushed  out  to  undergo 
the  evolutionary  processes  already  noted,  and 
thus  taking  their  place  in  the  community  of  solar 
humanities  that  stretch  throughout  space.  This  i& 
what  we  mean  by  creation — not  the  bringing  into 
existence  of  a  substance  or  substances  not  pre- 
viously existing,  but  the  bringing  of  the  types  and 
ideas  eternally  inherent  in  God  into  actual  em- 
bodiment as  moral  intelligences.  The  method  of 
doing  this,  as  we  see,  is  that  of  planting  the  spirit- 
ual germ  in  the  soil  of  time  and  space  appear- 
ances, and  the  giving  it  a  life  seemingly  self -in- 
herent. 

So  far  as  we  can  see  or  conceive,  the  being  thus 
born  into  a  sense  world  with  things  and  persons- 
objective  to  us,  and  the  seeming  of  the  life  within 


Two  In  One  131 

as  self-produced,  is  the  only  way  in  which  a  self- 
hood can  be  engendered,  and  thus  the  spirit  be- 
come a  self-conscious  individual.  God's  method 
of  bringing  our  humanity  into  existence  is  doubt- 
less the  law  of  all  existence,  whether  of  men  or 
angels.  Doubtless  all  created  beings  came  into 
existence  through  the  gate  of  birth.  All  appear- 
ances and  ongoings  in  Nature  are,  as  already 
noted,  simply  God  manifesting  Himself  so  and  so. 
The  evolutionary  processes  of  gradual  unfoldment 
from  the  monad  to  man  have  not  been  the  work- 
ing of  blind  force  through  Darwin's  hypothetical 
laws  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  adaptation  to 
environment,  and  others,  but  are  the  effects  of 
the  Infinite  Intelligence  operating  toward  a  defi- 
nite and  predetermined  end." 

"May  I  ask  your  authority  for  your  theory  that 
man  is  spirit,  sould  and  body,  and  that  the  spirit 
of  man  is  essentially  Divine?"  said  Mr.  Calvin. 

The  Bible,  in  so  far  as  it  rests  on  authority.  Paul 
teaches  it,  and  everywhere  the  Bible  uses  those 
terms  with  the  definite  signification  I  have  given 
them.  An  examination  of  the  Greek  words, 
pneuma,  psyche  and  soma  in  their  connection,  will 
convince  you. 

Again,  there  is  a  complete  system  of  psychology 
in  the  construction  of  the  tabernacle  and  temple. 
The  three  courts — outer,  middle  and  inner — sym- 
bolized the  body,  soul  and  spirit.  The  inner,  or 


132  Two  In  One 

Holy  of  Holies,  is  the  spirit,  the  interior  degree  of 
man  where  God  dwells  evermore,  or  rather  where 
evermore  he  is  in  God.  The  way  to  a  conscious- 
ness of  this  Divine  realm  in  his  nature  was  closed 
by  evil,  and  Christ  came  to  reopen  it.  Hence,  at 
His  crucifixion  the  veil  of  the  temple  was  rent. 
Now,  the  way  is  opened,  and  the  Divine  life  in 
fullness  may  be  received  by  whomsoever  will 
come." 

"Does  not  this  idea  of  man  in  God  imply  the 
final  salvation  of  all?" 

"It  is  open  to  that  objection.  But  when  prop- 
erly interpreted,  I  think  the  same  objection  lies 
against  the  Bible.  In  the  end,  the  Son,  having 
cast  out  Satan,  is  to  surrender  the  keys  of  power 
to  the  Father  and  God  is  to  be  ALL-IN-ALL.  This 
can  mean  nothing  less  than  that  each  and  every  in- 
dividual shall  realize  God  as  the  All  of  his  life. 
This  is  the  object  of  creation,  and  of  course  we 
cannot  conceive  of  Infinite  Love,  Wisdom  and 
Power  failing  in  its  purposes.  Any  outcome  other 
than  this  must  be  only  apparent,  not  the  real, 
truth." 

"I  do  not  get  clearly  your  distinction,  if  you 
make  any,  between  God  and  man.  If  man  is  the 
Divine  individualized,  is  not  man  and  God  one  and 
the  same?" 

"Man  as  spirit  is  in  and  of  God,  but  as  a  person 
he  is  spirit  so  discreted  in  consciousness  from  the 


Two  In  One  133 

Infinite  as  to  possess  a  separate  and  distinct  ex- 
istence and  to  think,  feel  and  act  freely  from  the 
ground  of  an  own  distinct  selfhood.  From  this 
personal  consciousness,  he  stands  related  to  his 
Creator  as  entirely  other  than  God.  And  even 
when  he  arrives  at  unity  with  God,  which  is  the 
goal  of  his  being,  and  can  say  as  Christ  did,  "I 
and  the  Father  are  One,'  his  self-consciousness  and 
separateness  as  an  individual  only  become  the 
more  strongly  accentuated.  The  loss  of  the  in- 
dividual consciousness  in  the  Infinite,  as  taught  by 
Buddhists  in  the  doctrine  of  Nirvana,  is  exactly 
the  reverse  of  the  truth." 

"Wherein,  then,  does  Christ  differ  from  man?" 

"I  should  say  that  the  difference  is  quantita- 
tive rather  than  qualitative.  Christ  was  the 
descent  of  the  Divine  into  a  human  soul  and  body 
with  such  power  as  to  overcome  all  opposition  of 
evil,  thus  transforming  his  outer  man  into  har- 
mony with  spirit,  thereby  rendering  it  a  medium 
for  the  full  indwelling  of  Divine  power,  and  the 
center  of  radiation  of  the  Divine  into  the  entire 
mass  of  our  humanity  on  earth,  in  heaven  and  in 
hell.  It  was  as  leaven  placed  in  the  lump  for 
the  leavening  of  the  whole. ' ' 

"Well,  what  about  Christ's  having  no  earthly 
father?  Doesn't  that  differentiate  Him  from  all 
other  men?" 

"Yes,  it  does.  But  the  difference  thus  indicated 


134  Two  In  One 

does  not  mean  an  essential  difference  as  to  His 
nature  in  God.  In  both,  existence  consists  in  the 
descent  of  spirit  into  personal  consciousness.  In 
man  the  descent  is  primarily  through  the  inter- 
vention of  an  earthly  father;  in  Christ  it  was  di- 
rectly into  the  feminine  without  such  masculine 
mediation.  We  must  suppose  that  the  manner  of 
His  birth  was  the  means  by  which  the  Divine  in 
Him  so  connected  itself  with  His  personal  con- 
sciousness as  to  manifest  itself  to  an  extent  be- 
yond that  in  others. 

The  charge  is  made  that  the  manner  of  His  birth 
is  a  lusus  naturae  not  according  to  law  and,  there- 
fore, not  credible.  But  in  a  deeper,  broader 
sense,  His  birth  is  in  accordance  with  law.  From 
the  mineral,  each  step  upward  comes  into  existence 
by  the  same  law  as  that  of  Christ's  birth,  viz.,  by 
means  of  a  natural  motherhood  and  a  Divine 
fatherhood.  To  start  with,  the  mineral  is  the 
mother-womb  of  the  vegetable,  and  the  organic 
life  flowing  from  the  Infinite  Fountain  of  life  was 
the  generating  principle.  Likewise  the  animal  on 
the  maternal  side  sprang  from  the  vegetable  and 
mineral,  but  the  psychic  germ  came  from  the 
Divine  inflowing.  And  finally  man  came  forth, 
all  lower  nature  being  his  mother,  and  God  his 
Father. 

Here  we  have  a  series  of  steps  upward,  each 
inaugurated  by  a  supernal  generation  with  no 


Two  In  One  135 

earthly  paternal  medium  between  the  natural 
matrix  and  the  Divine  generating  principle.  The 
only  question  here  arising  is,  does  man  as  a 
rational  animal,  such  as  he  appears  at  birth,  close 
the  series?  The  Bible  says  no.  Hundreds  of  years 
before  Christ,  the  prophet  wrote,  "A  virgin  shall 
bear  a  son,  and  they  shall  call  his  name  Immanuel, 
God  with  us."  In  due  time  such  prophecy  was 
declared  fulfilled  in  the  child  Jesus,  who  by  his 
remarkable  life  perfectly  manifested  the  character 
of  a  God-man — on  the  one  side  wholly  human,  on 
the  other  completely  Divine,  and  the  elements  so 
shading  off  into  each  other  as  to  render  the  line  of 
demarcation  imperceptible  to  the  human  vision, 
He  is  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  new  kind  of  man 
spiritually,  born  out  of  the  old  rational  man,  and 
is  going  on  to  perpetuate  his  like,  just  as  does  the 
vegetable  born  from  the  mineral,  the  animal  from 
the  vegetable  and  man  from  all  below.  Each  was 
a  distinct  step  upward,  and  each  by  natural  gen- 
eration produced  after  its  kind.  Instead,  there- 
fore, of  Christ's  birth  being  contrary  to  law,  it  is 
the  antitype  of  which  all  creation  below  were  the 
types. 

The  ascent  from  the  natural  to  the  spiritual 
man,  of  which  Christ  was  the  "  first  fruits, "  is 
the  end  to  which  Nature's  evolution  looked,  and 
is  the  explanation  of  the  whole.  Here,  in  a  re- 


136  Two  In  One 

markable  way,  the  written  Word  and  the  Book  of 
Nature  verify  each  other/' 

''Suppose  man  had  kept  his  first  estate — had 
not  sinned?" 

"Then  the  outer  man  of  the  individual  would, 
just  as  now,  have  formed  the  matrix  for  the  in- 
borning  of  a  spiritual  man." 

"Then  Christ's  work  was  a  removal  of  the  ob- 
stacles interposed  by  the  lapse  of  the  race  into 
evil,  and  the  placing  of  man  in  such  relations  with 
God  as  to  attain  the  end  originally  designed?" 

' '  Yes,  such  was  his  work  so  far  as  relates  to  our 
race.  But  we  must  ever  remember  that  this  re- 
demption and  regeneration  of  our  race  by  the  Di- 
vine incarnation  in  the  Christ  had  as  its  ulterior 
end  the  manifestation  of  God  to  the  entire  uni- 
verse. Christ  came  to  rectify  man's  fall;  but  the 
fall  was  not  a  marplot,  but  must  be  regarded  as 
taking  place  in  harmony  with  the  universal  econ- 
omy. ' ' 

"Do  you  mean  to  say,  that  evil  was  part  of 
God's  design  in  creation?" 

"Pardon  me,"  interposed  Mr.  Priestly,  "is  not 
this  rather  too  large  a  subject  to  enter  upon  to- 
night? I  should  like  more  time  for  it  than  we 
can  afford  now." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

At  our  next  meeting,  I  continued : 

"Evil  is,  I  believe,  the  subject  immediately  be- 
fore us.  In  the  treatment  of  this  subject,  I 
would  like  to  turn  questioner  and  have  others 
answer.  I  will  ask  Mr.  Calvin,  first,  what  is  evil?" 

' '  It  is  sin ;  and  sin,  we  are  told,  is  the  transgres- 
sion of  the  law. ' ' 

"Yes,  or  another  way  of  expressing  it  would 
be,  lack  of  harmony  with  law.  And  law  means 
the  orderly  sequence  of  cause  and  effect.  All 
existence  must  be  a  series  of  effects,  whether  that 
existence  be  subjective  or  objective — of  man  or 
nature;  and  those  effects  take  place  through  the 
orderly  operation  of  the  Infinite  cause  underlying 
them.  Law  binds  all  creation  into  one  harmoni- 
ous unity,  from  the  atom  to  the  angel — and  to 
God. 

Now,  the  well-being  of  every  creature  is  found 
in  its  harmony  with  the  laws  of  its  relation  to 
its  surroundings  or  environment.  The  environ- 
ment of  the  fish  is  the  water;  that  of  the  bird  is 
the  air,  and  so  on.  Place  the  fish  in  the  air,  or 
the  bird  in  the  water,  and  death  would  ensue. 

We  have  only  to  ask,  what  is  the  law  of  man's 


138  Two  In  One 

being,  harmony  with  which  is  life,  and  disharmony 
with  which  is  death?  Christ  gives  the  law  as 
love  of  God  and  man.  "Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  soul,  with  all  thy  mind, 
and  with  all  thy  strength,  and  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself.'*  If  a  man  love  God  supremely,  and  his 
neighbor  as  himself,  can  he  be  otherwise  than 
blessed,  or,  as  the  terms  is,  saved?" 

"No." 

"And  in  so  far  as  he  does  not  so  love  God  and 
man,  is  he  not  out  of  harmony  with  his  true  en- 
vironment, like  a  fish  out  of  water,  and  must  he 
not  suffer?" 

"Assuredly." 

"In  order  to  such  love  of  the  Creator  and  man 
must  there  not  be  a  realization  of  God  as  the  life, 
and  of  the  unity  of  all  men  in  Him,  God  thus  be- 
coming the  Supreme  Self,  the  very  life  of  our 
lives,  and  the  neighbor  only  another  self?" 

"I  accept  this  as  a  true  statement." 

"Then  is  not  evil  the  non-recognition  of  God 
as  the  life,  and  the  confirming  as  reality  the 
sensuous  appearance  of  life  as  of  self,  and  the  con- 
sequent engendering  of  self-love,  and  the  looking 
to  the  gratification  of  the  senses  and  bodily  ap- 
petites as  the  chief  good?  Is  not  this  the  mean- 
ing of  the  eating  of  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of 
good  and  evil,  and  of  the  tempter's  statement  to 
Eve,  "Ye  shall  be  as  God? " 


Two  In  One  139 

"I  see  all  this  to  be  true." 

"Then  evil  may  be  denned  as  an  illusion,  a  mis- 
taking of  sense  appearances  as  the  absolute 
reality." 

"In  theosophical  thought,"  said  Mr.  Clark, 
"evil  inheres  in  the  very  nature  of  physical  sense, 
and  hence  to  get  rid  of  it  we  must  get  rid  of  the 
so-called  natural  mind." 

"Yes,  that  is  a  poisonous  exotic  transplanted 
into  the  garden  of  our  western  so-called  new 
thought,  from  the  hot  bed  of  eastern  mysticism. 
The  truth  is,  the  natural  mind  of  physical  sense 
is  simply  an  outer  plane  of  consciousness  of  the 
spiritual  man,  and  is  no  more  essentially  evil  than 
is  the  spiritual.  Its  design  is  to  afford  a  basis 
for  the  building  up  of  an  external,  spiritual  self- 
hood. The  evil,  as  already  stated,  consists  in 
mistaking  its  true  character;  and  all  suffering  is 
only  the  consequence  of  this  error. '  ' 

1  c  But, ' '  interposed  Mr.  Priestly,  * '  how  about  the 
suffering  of  innocent  children?  How  about  those 
upheavals  in  nature  visiting  death  and  calamity 
upon  all  alike?  In  the  first  place,  nature,  as  I 
must  believe,  is  but  the  mode  of  the  operation  of 
the  Infinite  Principle  of  Life  and  Love.  But  this 
infinite  source  of  things  is  essential  harmony; 
then  how  account  for  its  disorderly  expressions  in 
nature,  such  as  earthquakes  and  cyclones?  And 
again,  the  law  of  justice  demands  that  suffering 


140  Two  In  One 

ghould  exist  only  as  the  result  of  the  voluntary 
disobedience  of  an  intelligent,  free,  moral  agent; 
and  love  demands  that  even  so.  his  suffering  must 
have  for  its  object  the  reclamation  of  the  evil 
doer.  In  the  realm  of  Infinite  Justice  and  Love, 
pain  can  originate  from  no  other  source  than  lack 
of  harmony  with  the  law  of  those  who  suffer,  and 
can  have  no  other  object  than  restoration  to  har- 
mony. Therefore,  all  infliction  of  pain  upon 
those  who  have  not  sinned  or  who  are  not  some- 
how involved  in  a  state  of  moral  disorder,  we  must 
classify  as  cruelty." 

"Your  statements,  I  think,  cannot  be  success- 
fully controverted,"  I  replied.  "It  follows  that 
the  suffering  of  a  humanity  as  a  whole  such  as 
prevails  in  our  world  implies  disorderly  con- 
ditions as  a  whole.  Again,  suffering  from  any 
external  environments  or  conditions  implies  a 
causal  relation  between  the  mental  disorder  and 
the  outer  disharmony. 

The  only  possible  rational  explanation,  there- 
fore, of  our  physical  calamities  is,  that  our  entire 
humanity  is  a  unity  bound  up  in  one  common 
bundle  of  organic  life,  and  that  the  so-called  nat- 
ural causes  of  our  suffering  are  due  to  disharmony 
of  the  entire  race  as  one,  with  the  laws  of  rela- 
tion to  God  and  the  universe  of  worlds. 

It  is  clearly  the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures  that 
all  physical  catastrophes  are  due  to  moral  evil  or 


Two  In  One  141 

lack  of  harmony  with  law  of  our  race  as  a  whole. 
For  example,  the  Noachian  Flood,  the  destruc- 
tion of  Sodom  and  other  instances  recorded  in 
the  Old  Testament  are  expressly  attributed  to  the 
wickedness  of  man  as  the  cause  or  ground  of  the 
visitation.  The  same  is  true  of  the  earthquake 
and  the  darkness  at  Christ's  crucifixion.  The 
Apostle  Paul  declares  that  all  creation  groans  in 
bondage  awaiting  man's  redemption.  Christ  tells 
us  that,  in  the  last  times,  physical  disorders  shall 
abound  by  reason  of  man's  perverted  spiritual 
state.  We  are  prophetically  told  in  Isaiah  that 
there  is  a  good  time  coming  when  wickedness 
shall  cease  and,  as  a  result,  all  the  earth  will  be 
in  peace  and  harmony,  and  when  nothing  will  hurt 
or  destroy.  In  the  Apocalypse,  there  is  pictured 
before  us  a  glorious  vision  of  a  new  heaven  and  a 
new  earth,  that  is  to  say,  a  new  spiritual  state  of 
humanity  and  a  new  world  environment  and  con- 
ditions resultant.  Hence,  as  far  as  the  Bible  may 
be  taken  as  authority,  the  question  is  settled. 

That  the  environments  of  a  world  of  human  be- 
ings must  correspond  to  the  moral  character  of 
its  inhabitants  is  a  self-evident  proposition.  It 
is  impossible  rationally  to  imagine  it  to  be  other- 
wise. Just  try,  for  a  moment,  to  think  of  the 
heavens  as  being  visited  by  disasters  similar  to 
earthquakes  or  destructive  cyclones,  or  of  hell  as 
being  a  realm  of  outward  peace  and  harmony. 


142  Two  In  One 

The  profound  philosophical  truth  underlying 
and  explaining  this  whole  subject  is,  that  men- 
tality stands  related  to  environment,  in  all  worlds, 
as  cause  to  effect.  The  outer  realm  of  appear- 
ances is  always  and  everywhere,  simply  the  inner 
world  of  thought  made  visible.  There  are  only 
two  other  theories  as  to  the  relations  of  mind  and 
matter  conceivable,  viz.:  materialism,  which 
makes  mind  to  be  the  result  of  matter  organized 
and  thus  leads  to  atheism ;  and  philosophical  duai- 
ism,  which  recognizes  mind  and  matter  as  two 
separate  and  distinct  substances,  the  logical  out- 
come of  which  is  the  enthronement  of  God  in 
space. 

All  profound  thinkers  are  coming  now  to  accept 
the  philosophy  that  phenomena  are  the  outshad- 
owing  of  spirit.  Modern  psychologists  are  gen- 
erally agreed  that  mind  is  the  prime  reality  and 
that  all  nature's  appearances  and  forces  are 
thought  in  outward  form  and  manifestation.  Even 
natural  science  has  advanced  to  a  point,  in  its 
analysis  of  matter,  where  the  next  step  will  bring 
it  into  accord  with  mental  science  in  holding  the 
external  universe  of  appearances  to  be  the  ex- 
figuration  of  the  invisible  universe  of  spirit  sub- 
stance. The  phenomena  of  nature  may  be  re- 
garded as  pictures  on  the  screen  cast  by  the  Di- 
vine light  and  life  outflowing  through  the  image- 


Two  In  One  143 

form  of  universal  spiritual  man,  the  mental  and 
moral  state  of  the  image  determining  the  nature 
of  the  shadow.  Thus  the  mental  cosmos  stands 
somewhat  in  the  same  relation  to  nature,  or  the 
physical  cosmos,  as  the  soul  of  the  individual  man 
does  to  his  body;  or  in  modern  psychological 
terminology,  as  the  subjective  to  the  objective 
mind.  As  the  soul  in  harmony  with  the  laws  of 
being  would  ultimate  itself  in  a  harmonious  and 
healthy  body;  so  universal  man — the  entire  race, 
being  in  harmony,  would  out-birth  itself  in  a  har- 
monious physical  world;  and  man  would  volun- 
tarily control  nature,  as  was  promised  he  should 
do  and  as,  when  he  comes  to  himself,  he  will  do. 
Had  man  retained  his  integrity,  he  would  have  run 
his  historical  course  as  the  lord  of  creation  instead 
of  being,  as  he  has  ever  been,  its  servant.  There 
would  have  been  no  destructive  violences  of  na- 
ture, transition  would  have  taken  the  place  of 
death,  the  external  mind  and  body  would  have 
become  gradually  spiritualized,  and  thus  man 
would  have  grown  into  heavenly  conditions  as  lit- 
tle tragically  as  a  child  develops  into  youth  and 
manhood. 

Granting  the  contention  of  the  psychologist  that 
all  power  is  primarily  thought,  and  accepting  the 
hypothesis  of  natural  science  that  there  is, 
throughout  all  space,  an  all-pervading  ether  which 
is  the  inmost  fountain  of  all  physical  phenomena ; 


144  Two  In  One 

and  granting,  again,  that  mind  can  act  directly 
upon  that  ether,  as  is  evidenced,  by  the  well  es- 
tablished facts  of  telepathy,  that  it  can,  we 
should  have  no  difficulty  in  arriving  at  a  causal 
nexus  between  mind  and  matter.  And  from  this 
standpoint,  we  have  also  a  very  plausible  theory 
of  the  immediate  physical  cause  of  earthquakes. 
We  know  that  the  earth  is  a  great  electro-magnet 
and  that  rivers  of  electric  force  course  through 
it  northward  and  southward.  Now,  why  is  it 
not  rational  to  conclude  that  any  abnormality  in 
the  cosmic  mind  acting  upon  and  through  etheric 
force  would  throw  out  of  balance  these  great  cur- 
rents of  electric  force  traversing  the  earth,  and 
thereby  cause  a  violent  passage  of  electricity 
from  one  earth  stratum,  or  one  earth  zone,  to 
another,  such  as  occurs  between  two  clouds  of 
different  electrical  tensions?*  On  this  hypothesis, 
and  thus  only,  is  explainable  the  synchronous  and 
wide  extent  of  earthquakes. 

The  principle  of  race  solidarity  is  very  far- 
reaching  in  its  bearing  on  all  theological  thought. 
For  example,  the  race  thus  standing  in  relation  to 
God  as  one  great  personality,  it  follows  that  the 
welfare  and  final  destiny  of  each  individual  are 
involved  and  included  in  the  welfare  and  destiny 
of  the  whole.  They  who  have  gone  before  retain 
their  vital  unity  with  those  yet  on  the  natural 
plane  of  existence.  Their  lives  are  organically 


Two  In  One  145 

one,  now  and  forever,  all  constituting  one  totality 
of  race-life  and  character  and  evolving  toward  one 
common  ultimation. 

Again,  as  to  the  central,  all-embracing  truth  of 
Christianity,  viz. :  the  character,  life  and  work  of 
Christ,  the  incarnated  Divine  Word.  His  rela- 
tions to  our  humanity  were  and  are  primarily  to 
the  whole  race,  and  secondarily  to  individuals.  His 
personality  was  the  humanly  organized  expres- 
sion of  a  universally  diffused  Divine  life  in  the 
entire  race-body,  which  becomes  personal  within 
each  individual  who  recognizes  and  receives  him. 
He  represents  himself  as  standing  at  the  door  of 
every  heart  seeking  admittance. 

Thus  through  the  Divine  Word  organized  into 
the  race,  the  Spirit  of  Truth  proceeding  from  the 
deeps  of  Infinite  Love,  evermore  operates  within 
all  hearts  and  minds  seeking  to  bring  every  one 
into  harmony  and  unity  with  God,  constituting 
one  grand  unitary  body  in  Christ,  thereby  ful- 
filling his  prayer:  "Thou  in  me  and  I  in  them 
that  they  may  be  one  in  us." 

"Pardon  me,"  said  Mr.  Calvin,  "I  have  a 
question  to  ask.  It  is :  Whence  and  why  this  de- 
lusion or  error  of  evil?" 

"In  the  Edenic  narrative,  evil  is  represented  as 
having  its  origin  previous  to  the  creation  of  man, 
and  in  the  form  of  the  serpent,  as  tempting  man. 
Throughout  the  Scriptures,  this  evil  influence  is 


146  Two  In  One 

personalized  under  the  terms  Satan,  devil,  etc. 
Christ  said  his  mission  was  to  destroy  the  works 
of  the  devil.  But  whence  this  evil  influence  came 
is  not  revealed. ' ' 

"It  seems  to  me,"  said  Mr.  Priestly,  "that  the 
nature  of  animal  life  during  the  geolgic  ages  and 
previous  to  the  creation  of  man,  corroborates  the 
Scriptures  that  evil  antedated  his  advent  upon 
the  earth. 

I  think  that  the  Swedenborgian  teaching  is  true 
that  all  creation  is  composed  of  forms  recipient 
of  the  Divine  life,  and  that  these  forms  are  di- 
vided into  two  classes,  viz.,  those  of  good  antl 
those  of  evil;  the  good  being  the  outbirth  and  ex- 
pression of  spiritual  principles  of  good,  and  the 
evil  of  evil  principles.  For  instance,  poisonous 
and  noxious  minerals  and  plants,  such  as  arsenic 
and  strychnia,  and  hurtful  animals,  such  as  ven- 
omous serpents  and  cruel  wild  beasts,  exist  only 
because  there  is  a  corresponding  spirit  of  evil 
flowing  outward  from  the  spirit-world,  and  which 
in  fact  sustains  them  in  existence. 

On  the  other  hand,  all  plants  good  for  food, 
and  innocent,  kindly  animals  such  as  the  lamb, 
the  ox,  the  dove,  are  correspondences  of  good 
principles  in  the  spirit  realm,  the  fountain  of  all 
phenomenal  existence.  But  the  most  prominent 
quality  of  the  animals  during  the  geologic  ages 
of  our  planet  was  forms  of  evil.  Now,  if  there 


Two  In  One  147 

was  no  evil  or  devil  till  man  came,  then  whence 
these  forms  corresponding  to  evil  antedating  his 
creation  many  ages?  If  they  are  evil  forms  now, 
they  were  then,  and  if  they  exist  now  because  of 
present  evil  spiritual  forces  giving  them  life,  the 
same  was  true  then. 

The  fact  is,  the  fossil  remains  of  Geology  viewed 
in  the  light  of  this  doctrine  of  correspondences, 
seem  to  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  an 
evil  sphere  permeating  the  formative  materials  of 
our  planet  from  the  beginning,  transforming  the 
Divine  creative  innocent  germs  into  the  horrid 
forms  of  cruelty  which  we  find  imbedded  in  the 
earth's  crust. 

Thus  nature  confirms  the  Bible  in  teaching  that 
evil  did  not  originate  with  man.  The  tempter 
was  here  when  man  came,  and  for  some  reason 
was  permitted  to  tempt  and  overcome  him,  and 
during  all  succeeding  ages  to  dominate  the  race. 
To  say  that  this  result  was  undesigned,  or  that 
there  was  no  infinitely  good  purpose  in  it  is  to 
deny  the  Creator's  Infinity. 

"As  to  what  that  purpose  was,"  I  remarked,  "I 
have  already,  in  my  life  narrative,  partially  indi- 
cated, and  need  not  repeat  here.  In  general,  I 
may  say,  it  is  clear  to  me  that  the  pre-existing 
evil,  or  devil,  was  permitted  to  ally  itself  with  the 
very  life  of  this  planet  in  order  that  through  a 
Divine  incarnation  in  our  humanity,  it  might  be 


148  Two  In  One 

reached  and  destroyed  forever;  and  that  hence- 
forth the  power  going  forth  from  the  Divine 
Human  of  the  Christ,  the  universe  could  never 
again  be  invaded;  and  further,  that  through  the 
experiences  of  our  race  under  the  domination  of 
evil,  and  our  deliverance  therefrom,  there  might 
be  a  manifestation  of  God,  a  fuller  reception  and 
indwelling  of  God  in  all,  as  the  All,  than  could  be 
in  any  other  way.  Whencesoever  this  evil  power 
originated,  or  how,  in  nowise  affects  the  verity  of 
these  conclusions. 

It  must  suffice  us  to  know  that  evil  is  not  a  mar- 
plot, but  that  it  exists,  for  a  use  sufficient  for  its 
justification;  and  that  having  accomplished  that 
use,  Christ  wil  not  fail  in  his  mission  for  its  utter 
destruction. 

If  there  is  no  objection,  we  will  take  "Man"  or 
"Psychology,"  as  our  next  subject. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

We  have  already  observed  that  man  is  consti- 
tuted of  three  degrees  or  ranges  of  life  from  the 
within  to  the  without,  termed  in  the  Pauline 
psychology  pneuma,  psuke  and  soma,  translated 
spirit,  soul  and  body. 

As  Spirit,  he  has  had  being  in  God  from  eter- 
nity. What  degree  of  individual  consciousness 
he  possessed,  we  can  only  conjecture.  He  has 
had  at  least  eternal  being  as  a  germinal  person- 
ality, with  all  the  potentialities  inherent,  which 
are  manifest  in  his  present  state  of  existence  and 
as  exhibited  in  their  perfection  in  the  Christ. 

Thinkers  all  along  the  ages  have  been  divided 
on  the  question  as  to  whether  the  soul  has  its 
origin  by  natural  generation,  and  comes  into  the 
existence  with  and  through  the  body,  or  whether 
it  had  previous  existence  and  that  the  bodily 
plane  of  thought  and  feeling  alone  is  taken  on  by 
natural  birth.  The  early  church  were  divided  on 
this  question  under  the  names  of  pre-existenceists 
and  traducianists,  the  latter  holding  that  the  soul 
is  derived  from  its  parents  by  the  process  of  nat- 
ural generation. 

But  which  of  these  theories  is  true  matters  lit- 


150  Two  In  One 

tie  for  out  present  purpose.  The  point  of  im- 
portance in  this  conection  is  that  the  real  man, 
the  Spiritual  man,  perfect  in  idea,  has  from  eter- 
nity had  being  in  God,  that  the  soul  and  body 
are  but  the  outward  evolution  of  its  inherent 
powers  into  a  conscious  personal  selfhood,  and 
that  the  apointed  destiny  of  each  individual  is  the 
bringing  out  of  all  the  perfections  of  the  inner 
man  into  objective  expression  and  actuality. 

There  are  reasons  conclusive  to  my  mind  that 
the  soul  degree  has  constituted  the  plane  of  man's 
consciousness  as  an  individual  from  eternity.  As- 
suredly, whatever  degree  of  individuality  or  self- 
consciousness  he  may  have  possessed  previous  to 
birth  here,  was  accompanied  by,  and  constituted 
of,  an  environing  external  universe.  Such  a 
sphere  of  outward  things  and  beings  perceived  as 
other  than  self,  is  essential  to  any  conception  of 
self  as  a  distinct  entity.  There  must  be  a  sense 
of  otherness  even  of  God  in  order  to  self-conscious 
individuality. 

As  regards  our  natural  universe,  even  physical 
science  has  concluded  that  it  is  but  the  outward- 
ing  in  fixed  forms  of  an  invisible  spiritual  uni- 
verse. See  the  work  entitled,  "The  Spiritual 
Universe/'  the  joint  production  of  Professors  Tait 
and  Balfour  Stewart,  two  of  England's  leading 
scientists.  Physical  Science  is  thus  brought  into 
harmony  with  modern  psychology  in  holding  that 


Two  In  One  151 

all  the  outer  realm  of  forms  and  forces  is  a 
thought  world,  that  is  to  say,  thought  objectified 
and  made  visible  to  the  natural  senses.  Seers, 
or  those  whose  spiritual  eyes  have  been  opened, 
tell  us  that  in  the  spiritual  realm  the  inhabitants 
recognize  their  environments  to  be  only  their  men- 
tal selves  outwardly  expressed,  and  while  in  gen- 
eral their  environments  of  landscape  and  home 
surroundings  are  fixed  and  unchangeable  in  cor- 
respondence with  their  general  fixedness  of  men- 
tal and  moral  character,  their  changing  moods 
and  fiitting  thoughts  are  outwardly  expressed  in 
corresponding  transitory  appearings  of  flowers, 
birds,  insects,  etc.,  which  they  recognize  as  the 
outbirthings  of  their  thoughts  and  emotions.  In 
this  way,  the  phenomena  of  their  world  are  living 
pictures  of  their  inward  selves  and  their  relations 
to  others. 

But  here  in  this  world,  our  materialistic  thought 
outwardly  manifests  itself  in  a  corresponding  fix- 
edness of  physical  conditions. 

To  repeat,  then,  man  is  primarily  existent  in 
God,  visually  manifested  and  thus  resident  in  and 
environed  by,  a  spiritual  universe.  Thence  he 
conies  by  birth  into  the  present  state  of  existence, 
and  takes  on  a  still  more  outward  range  of  con- 
sciousness in  the  natural  body,  with  its  environing 
natural  or  physical  world.  Thus  we  have  the 
three-fold  man  of  the  Scriptures. 


152  Two  In  One 

These  three  planes  of  consciousness  are  related 
respectively  to  one  another,  from  the  within  to 
the  without,  as  cause  and  effect,  the  higher  or 
more  interior  flowing  downward  and  outward, 
forming  the  next  lower  in  its  image  and  likeness, 
faculty  answering  to  faculty,  and  function  to 
function,  so  that  the  lower  is  the  exact  cor- 
respondential  expression  of  that  from  which  it  is 
derived. 

The  faculties  of  the  natural  mind  of  man  are 
each  and  all  merely  the  outward  manifestation 
of  the  soul.  The  outer  man  is  the  soul  made 
visible  and  so  organized  as  to  express  the  soul 
life  in  physical  form  and  under  physical  condi- 
tions. 

The  soul  bears  the  same  relation  to  the  Spirit, 
or  most  interior  degree,  that  the  body  does  to  the 
soul.  The  ego  or  real  self  of  the  soul  is  the 
spirit,  and  the  ego  of  the  body  is  the  soul.  The 
spirit  is  the  life  of  the  soul  and  the  soul  is  the 
life  of  the  body. 

Likewise  the  spirit  realm  of  unexpressed  ideas 
takes  form  in  the  soul  realm  of  thought  consti- 
tuting the  psychic  or  soul  universe  of  outward  ap- 
pearances ;  and  these  in  turn  are  expressed  in  the 
seeming  substance  of  persons,  animals  and  things 
in  the  world  of  nature,  constituting  the  material 
universe. 


Two  In  One  153 

These  three  planes  of  consciousness  are  not  in- 
dependent of  one  another,  but  constitute  a  one. 
They  are  one  in  the  sense  that  the  mental  and  af- 
fectional  activities  of  the  external  or  natural  man 
are  the  resultant  ultimation  or  outflowing  stream 
of  the  two  internal  degrees  acting  and  expressing 
themselves  herein. 

As  the  soul  has  been  eternally  one  with  the 
spirit,  and  the  manifestation  of  it,  so  the  plane  of 
consciousness  of  this  outer  or  natural  existence, 
which  we  enter  upon  through  the  gate  of  natural 
birth,  becomes  henceforth  an  essential  part  of  the 
entire  man,  the  ultimate  expression  for  both  of  the 
interior  degrees,  and  as  such  is  to  continue  for- 
ever. 

Hence  the  laying  aside  of  this  bodily  plane  of 
consciousness  by  death,  or  rather  its  going  to 
sleep,  as  the  Scriptures  express  it,  is  only  a  tem- 
porary cessation  of  its  functions,  similar  to  natural 
sleep. 

The  Lord  Jesus  said  of  Jairus'  daughter,  "She 
is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth."  And  of  Lazarus,  he 
said  to  his  disciples,  "Our  friend  Lazarus  sleep- 
eth,  let  us  go  to  awake  him. '  ' 

Death  is  only  a  temporary  incident  in  the  never 
ending  course  of  our  bodily  existence.  It  is  a 
temporary  failure,  by  reason  of  sin,  to  reach  the 
end  for  which  man  was  brought  into  this  outer 
existence.  But  it  is  not  to  be  permanent  failure. 


154  Two  In  One 

It  is  true  of  the  body,  indeed  it  was  spoken  of  the 
body  that  "As  in  Adam  all  died,  so  in  Christ  shall 
be  made  alive. "  The  man  is  to  be  awakened 
from  this  temporary  sleep  of  the  body  and  go  for- 
ward in  the  accomplishment  of  the  end  for  which 
this  existence  was  bestowed.  That  end  is  the 
bringing  down  into  this  outer  consciousness  a  real- 
ization of  God  as  the  life  and  soul  thereof,  and 
thus  the  so  becoming  at  one  with  God  that  the 
Infinite  Life,  Love,  Intelligence  and  Power  shall 
be  ultimated  in  fullness  therein. 

Speaking  of  those  who  had  passed  by  death 
from  this  outer  state  of  consciousness,  the  Lord 
Jesus  said,  * '  The  time  is  coming  and  now  is,  when 
they  that  are  in  their  graves  shall  hear  the  voice 
of  the  Son  of  God  and  shall  come  forth,  they  that 
have  done  good  to  the  resurrection  of  life,  and 
they  that  have  done  evil  to  the  resurrection  of 
Judgment/'  The  Greek  term  rendered  in  the 
common  version  ' '  damnation, "  is  "  Krisis, ' '  which 
means  simply  " Judgment" — a  revealing  of  the 
moral  state  of  the  one  judged. 

The  Apostle  Paul  in  1  Cor.,  15th  chapter, teaches 
as  plainly  as  language  can  express  it  that  there 
is  to  be  an  awakening  of  the  bodily  plane  of  con- 
sciousness— that  this  in  fact  constitutes  the  res- 
urrection. There  were  those  in  his  day  who  de- 
nied this  just  as  there  are  those  in  our  day  who 
spiritualize  the  whole  matter  into  an  uplifting  of 


Two  In  One  155 

the  mental  or  spiritual  states,  and  others  who  hold 
that  the  resurrection  means  simly  a  rising  of  the 
soul  life  out  of  the  body  at  death. 

Those  errorists  in  Paul's  day  claimed  that  the 
resurrection  was  already  past — probably  meaning 
at  death. 

All  this  confusion  of  thought  on  the  subject  of 
the  resurrection  has  arisen  out  of  a  lack  of  under- 
standing of  the  real  nature  of  the  soul  and  of  the 
body,  their  functions  and  their  relations  to  each 
other.  Materialistic  thought  has  confounded  the 
bodily  plane  of  consciousness  which  is  mental, 
with  a  supposed  physical  substance — flesh  and 
blood — which  is  merely  its  present  outward 
phenomenal  expression  and  in  itself  is  not  sub- 
stance. 

Paul  tells  us  that  the  resurrection  wil  not  be 
of  matter  as  we  apprehend  it — flesh  and  blood.  All 
that  we  call  matter  is  but  fixed  forms  of  the  ele- 
mental force  which  scientists  have  termed  the 
ether.  The  mental  state  must  determine  the  ap- 
parent nature  of  the  substance  which  this  force 
will  assume  in  every  state  of  existence.  We  may 
infer  that  the  bodies  of  those  who  have  with 
Christ  become  divinized  are  constituted  of  the 
ether  in  its  first  and  highest  expression  in  nature, 
wherein  shall  be  manifested  all  the  powers  stored 
up  in  this  fountain  of  power. 

Our  present  bodies  are  the  manifestation  of  that 


156       ,  Two  In  One 

same  force  in  its  grossest,  coarsest  degree  corre- 
sponding to  our  material  thought.  The  resur- 
rection will  consist  not  of  again  entering  into  this 
gross  matter,  but  of  an  awakening  of  the  mental- 
ity which  really  constitutes  the  body  and  the  put- 
ting forth  of  this  mentality  into  visibility  cor- 
respondent to  its  state. 

Paul  tells  us  that  there  is  a  natural  body  and 
there  is  a  spiritual  body.  Our  present  body  is 
natural — seeming  flesh  and  blood  substance,  be- 
cause of  our  present  materialistic,  mental  state; 
the  spiritual  body  will  be  composed  of  ethereal 
(spiritual)  substance  that  is  of  more  interior 
forces,  according  with  the  changed  mental  state. 
But  to  the  mental  state  that  assumes  it,  it  will  be 
as  tangible  and  real  as  the  present  physical  body 
is  to  the  physical  senses,  and  more  so. 

Just  as  our  physical  senses  are  adapted  to  the 
grosser  forms  of  force,  called  matter,  so  our  spir- 
itual senses  will  be  adapted  to  the  more  ethereal 
and  more  substantial  forms  of  those  forces. 

We  are  admonished  in  the  Scriptures  that  after 
death,  the  Judgment  or  a  realization  of  the  moral 
state  in  relation  to  God,  whether  that  of  harmony 
with  the  eternal  laws  of  our  being  or  of  dishar- 
mony therewith.  This  sort  of  Judgment  every 
right  thinking  man  is  here  and  now  undergoing 
every  day.  By  the  inshining  of  the  truth,  the 
quality  of  his  thoughts,  loves,  motives  and  actions 


Two  In  One  157 

is  revealed  to  Mm,  conscience  approving  or  disap- 
proving. Thus  in  one  sense  Judgment  day  is  every 
day  in  this  world,  and  the  character  is  formed  for 
good  or  evil  according  to  the  heed  we  give  to  the 
monitions  of  truth.  Our  present  gross  mental 
state,  through  the  physical  senses,  can  take  cog- 
nizance of  the  forces  in  which  we  are  immersed 
only  in  the  gross  form  of  so-called  matter,  and 
hence  in  the  more  subtle  form  of  the  chemical 
forces,  electricity,  etc.,  they  disappear  from  sense 
vision.  It  only  requires  a  mental  state  properly 
related  to  these  interior  forces  for  their  becoming 
apprehensible  to  the  senses  in  a  way  as  much  more 
real  and  substantial  as  are  those  forces  more  real 
and  substantial  in  their  more  ethereal  expression 
than  they  are  in  this  outer  world. 

The  truth  thus  coming  to  us  and  revealing  the 
way  in  which  we  should  walk  seems  to  us,  as  the 
Lord  Jesus  terms  it,  an  adversary.  It  is  so,  be- 
cause it  exposes  and  opposes  our  loves  and  desires. 
He  admonishes  us  to  agree  with  this  adversary 
quickly  while  we  are  in  the  way  with  him,  other- 
wise we  shall  be  handed  over  to  the  Judge,  con- 
victed, and  imprisoned  and  shall  not  get  out  of 
the  prison  'till  we  have  paid  the  last  farthing. 
That  is,  we  shall  fix  evil  in  the  character  which 
becomes  a  prison  house,  to  be  eliminated  only 
through  suffering. 

But  to  the  soul   consciousness   in   the   psychic 


158  Two  In  One 

realm  in  which  we  enter  by  the  falling  to  sleep 
of  the  outer  man,  there  can  be  no  such  judgment, 
as  will  appear  by  a  consideration  of  the  nature 
and  relations  of  the  external  and  the  internal 
man. 

As  we  are  born  into  this  outer  existence,  the 
consciousness  is  for  the  time  transferred  from  the 
soul  plane  to  that  of  the  body.  In  this  external 
state  of  thought  and  feeling  the  man  realizes  only 
his  life  in  the  body,  his  relations  to  the  physical 
world  and  his  dependence  upon  it  for  existence. 
Step  by  step  his  natural  faculties  are  unfolded, 
first  in  the  opening  and  activities  of  the  physical 
senses,  and  thus  the  perception  of  the  facts  and 
phenomena  of  nature.  Following  this,  there  is 
developed  the  power  of  classifying  facts  and  ar- 
riving at  general  ideas  in  the  form  of  laws  or 
principles,  and  thence  of  reasoning  from  these 
principles  deductively  to  ulterior  conclusions,  but 
always  and  only  in  the  range  of  such  knowledge 
as  is  derived  from  the  action  of  the  physical 
senses  and  reasonings  from  data  derived  there- 
from. 

The  end  or  object  of  the  developments  of  this 
natural  degree  of  consciousness  is  that  it  may  be 
the  basis  for  the  development  thereon  or  therein 
of  a  spiritual  consciousness  in  this  outer  degree, 
or  rather  a  flowing  in  of  spiritual  truth — a  real- 
ization of  God  as  the  life — to  be  accepted  and  in- 


Two  In  One  159 

corporated  by  and  in  this  natural  mind,  and  so 
the  Divine  attributes  of  Love,  Wisdom,  Goodness 
and  Power  to  manifest  themselves  therein  hence- 
forth in  ever  increasing  fullness  throughout  eter- 
nity. 

As  the  Apostle  says,  ''First  the  natural  and 
afterwards  the  spiritual ; ' '  and  we  may  add,  first, 
"the  natural  in  order  to  the  spiritual."  Such  is 
the  process  of  becoming  Sons  of  God  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  Scriptures,  it  was  Christ's  mission 
to  give.  "As  many  as  received  him,  to  them 
gave  he  power  to  become  Sons  of  God." 

The  relations  of  this  external  mind  to  the  in- 
ternal, and  the  process  of  regeneration  or  diviniza- 
tion,  have  not  hitherto  been  clearly  understood, 
and  hence  there  has  been  much  confusion  of 
thought  on  the  entire  subject. 

Modern  scientific  methods  of  investigation  have 
thrown  much  light  upon  it.  I  will  quote  on  this 
point  from  Hudson's  "Psychic  Phenomena." 
Although  this  author  is  surprisingly  limited  in  his 
views  as  to  the  far-reaching  results  of  his  inves- 
tigations and  conclusions,  especially  in  their  bear- 
ings on  the  nature  of  the  psychic  realm  and  our 
present  relations  thereto,  he  is  very  clear  and  con- 
clusive on  the  immediate  subject  under  considera- 
tion ;  that  is,  the  nature  and  relations  of  the  outer 
and  inner  mind  of  the  individual  man. 

He  says:     "In  more  recent  years  the  doctrine 


160  Two  In  One 

of  duality  of  mind  is  beginning  to  be  more  clearly 
defined  and  it  may  now  be  said  to  constitute  a 
cardinal  principle  in  the  philosophy  of  many  of 
the  ablest  exponents  of  the  new  psychology. 
Thousands  of  examples  might  be  cited  to  show 
that  in  all  ages  the  truth  has  been  dimly  recog- 
nized by  men  of  all  civilized  races  and  in  all  con- 
ditions of  life. 

Indeed,  it  may  be  safely  predicted  of  every  man 
of  intelligence  and  refinement  that  he  has  often 
felt  within  himself  an  intelligence  not  the  result  of 
education,  a  perception  of  truth,  independent  of 
testimony  of  his  bodily  senses. 

It  is  natural  to  supose  that  a  proposition,  the 
substantial  correctness  of  which  has  been  so 
widely  recognized,  must  possess  not  only  a  solid 
basis  of  truth,  but  must,  if  clearly  understood, 
possess  a  veritable  significance  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance to  mankind. 

Hitherto,  however,  no  successful  attempt  has 
been  made  to  define  clearly  the  nature  of  the  two 
elements  which  constitute  the  dual  mind ;  nor  has 
the  fact  been  recognized  that  the  two  minds  pos- 
sess distinctive  characteristics.  It  is  a  fact, 
nevertheless,  that  the  line  of  demarcation  between 
the  two  is  clearly  defined;  that  each  is  endowed 
with  separate  and  distinct  attributes  and  powers ; 
that  their  functions  are  unlike,  and  that  each  is 


Two  In  One  161 

capable  under  certain  conditions  and  limitations 
of  independent  action. 

For  want  of  a  better  nomenclature,  I  shall  dis- 
tinguish the  two  by  designating  the  one  as  ob- 
jective and  the  other  as  subjective.  In  doing  so, 
the  commonly  received  definitions  of  the  two 
words  will  be  slightly  modified  and  extended ;  but 
in  as  much  as  they  more  nearly  express  my  exact 
meaning  than  any  others  that  occur  to  me,  I  pre- 
fer to  use  them  rather  than  attempt  to  coin  new 
ones. 

In  general  terms,  the  difference  between  man's 
two  minds  may  be  stated  as  follows: 

The  objective  mind  takes  cognizance  of  the  ob- 
jective world.  Its  media  of  observation  are  the 
five  physical  senses.  It  is  the  outgrowth  of 
man's  physical  necessities.  It  is  the  guide  in  his 
struggle  with  his  material  environment.  Its 
highest  function  is  that  of  reasoning. 

The  subjective  mind  takes  cognizance  of  its  en- 
vironment by  means  independent  of  the  physical 
senses.  It  perceives  by  intuition.  It  performs 
its  highest  functions  when  the  objective  senses 
are  in  abeyance.  In  a  word,  it  is  that  intelligence 
which  makes  itself  manifest  in  a  hypnotic  subject 
when  he  is  in  a  state  of  somnambulism. 

In  this  state,  many  of  the  most  wonderful  feats 
of  the  subjective  mind  are  performed.  It  sees 
without  the  use  of  the  natural  organs  of  vision; 


162  Two  In  One 

and  in  this  as  well  as  in  many  other  grades,  or 
degrees  of  the  hypnotic  state,  it  can  be  made 
apparently  to  leave  the  body,  and  travel  to  dis- 
tant lands  and  bring  back  intelligence,  often- 
times of  the  most  exact  and  truthful  character. 
It  has  also  the  power  to  read  the  thoughts  of 
others,  even  to  the  minutest  details;  to  read  the 
contents  of  sealed  envelopes  and  of  closed  books, 
In  short  it  is  the  subjective  mind  that  possesses 
what  is  popularly  designated  as  clairvoyant 
power,  and  the  ability  to  apprehend  the  thoughts 
of  others  without  the  aid  of  the  ordinary  ob- 
jective means  of  communication. 

The  following  propositions  will  not,  therefore,, 
be  disputed  by  any  intelligent  student: 

1.  That  the  objective  mind,  or,  let  us  say,  man 
in    his    normal     condition,    is    not     controllable, 
against  reason,  positive  knowledge,   or  the  evi- 
dence of  his  senses,  by  the    suggestions  of  an- 
other. 

2.  That  the  subjective  mind,  or  man  in  the 
hypnotic  state,  is    unqualifiedly    and    constantly 
amenable  to  the  power  of  suggestion. 

That  is  to  say,  the  subjective  mind  accepts,, 
without  hesitation  or  doubt,  every  statement  that 
is  made  to  it,  (by  the  objective  mind).  "One 
of  the  most  important  distinctions  between  the 
objective  and  subjective  minds  pertains  to  the- 
functions  of  reason.  That  there  is  a  radical  dif- 


Two  In  One  163 

ference  in  their  powers  and  methods  of  reasoning 
is  a  fact  which  has  not  been  noted  by  any  psy- 
chologist who  has  written  on  the  subject.  It  is, 
nevertheless,  a  proposition  which  will  be  readily 
conceded  to  be  essentially  true  by  every  observer 
when  his  attention  is  once  called  to  it.  The  prop- 
ositions may  be  briefly  stated  as  follows: 

1.  The  objective  mind  is  capable  of  reasoning 
by  all  methods — inductive  and  deductive,  analytic 
and  synthetic. 

2.  The  subjective  mind  is  incapable  of  induc- 
tive reasoning.      The  subjective  mind  never  classi- 
fies a  series  of  known  facts  and  reasons  from  them 
up  to  general  principles;  but    given  a  general 
principle  to  start  with  it  will  reason  deductively 
from  that  down  to  all  legitimate  inferences,  with 
marvellous  cogency  and  power.      Place  a  man  of 
intelligence  and  cultivation  in  the  hypnotic  state, 
and  give  him  a  premise,  say  in  the  form  of  a 
statement  of  a  general  principle  of  philosophy, 
and  no  matter  what  may  have  been  his  opinions 
in  his  normal  conditions  he  will  unhesitatingly  in 
obedience  to  the  power  of  suggestion  assume  the 
correctness  of  the  position;  and  if  given  an  op- 
portunity to  discuss  the  question,  will  proceed  to 
deduce  therefrom  the  details  of  a  whole  system 
of  philosophy." 

The  writer  further  shows  that  the  memory  of 
the  subjective  mind  seems  to  be  perfect,  retain- 


164  Two  In  One 

ing  with  marvelous  exactness  every  fact  and 
principle  impressed  upon  it  by  the  objective  mind. 

All  investigations  of  modern  psychologists,  in 
the  light  of  superior  scientific  methods,  lead  inev- 
itably to  the  conclusion  that,  whatever  may  have 
been  the  powers  of  the  soul  or  subjective  mind 
previous  to  birth  into  this  objective  sphere,  in 
this  state  of  existence  it  is  amenable  to  and  de- 
pendent on  the  objective  mind  in  the  following 
important  particulars: 

1  The  soul  has  no  power  of  gathering  and 
classifying  facts  and  thus  arriving  at  truth  by  the 
process  of  induction,  but  is  dependent  on  the  outer 
mind  for  its  facts  and  principles,  which  it  accepts 
without  question  and  by  deduction  carries  them 
out  to  their  logical  results,  thus  fulfilling  the 
Lord's  saying,  "Whatsoever  ye  bind  on  earth 
(the  outer  man)  shall  be  bound  in  heaven  (the 
inner  man) ;  and  whatsoever  ye  shall  loose  on 
earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven.*7 

2.  Hence  this  interior  mind  has  no  faculty  of 
seeing  truth  of  itself  other  than  in  the  line  of 
its  desires.  It  sees  as  true  when  left  to  itself 
only  what  it  loves  and  desires  to  be  true.  There- 
fore, in  and  of  itself  it  has  no  power  of  judgment 
of  what  is  right  or  wrong,  and  consequently  no 
power  of  repentance  or  reformation.  Left  to 
itself,  it  must  forever  remain  what  its  chief  or 
leading  love  determines  to  be  true  and  good. 


Two  In  One  165 

This  was  seen  by  Swedenborg,  and  hence  his 
teaching  of  the  unchangeableness  of  the  soul's 
state  after  death.  In  fact,  this  truth  has  been 
intuitively  perceived  by  thinkers  of  all  ages  and 
creeds,  and  hence  the  reincarnation  theory  of 
orientalism  and  the  endless  damnation  theory  of 
much  of  our  Christian  theology. 

3.  When  the  objective  mind  is  placed  in  abey- 
ance to  the  subjective  mind  and  the  latter  is  free 
to  flow  out  and  express  itself  through  the  bodily 
organism,  it  exhibits  extraordinary  powers. 

Now,  whether  these  powers  are  to  be  attri- 
buted to  the  individual  subjective  mind,  or 
whether  they  are  the  result  of  a  larger  tide  of 
life  and  thought  with  which  it  is  in  vital  relation 
within  the  subjective  sphere,  and  of  which,  under 
hypnotic  control,  it  becomes  the  medium,  we  do 
not  know.  Many  facts  point  rather  to  the  idea 
that  these  extraordinary  powers  are  the  result 
of  an  influx  from  the  interior  soul  realm  of  a  con- 
cert of  mind  force,  the  objective  mind  being 
made  amenable  to  the  subjective  mind  and  realm 
and  thus  becoming  the  passive  medium  of  its  ex- 
pression on  the  outer  plane. 

This  psychic  realm  is  a  mental  state,  and  a  gath- 
ering place  of  all  who  have  lived  before  us,  and 
is  a  reservoir  of  life  and  thought  force  which  may 
under  certain  conditions,  both  normal  and  ab- 
normal, be  opened  out  into  the  natural  realm 


166  Two  In  One 

through  the  channels  of  the  individual  mind  and 
express  itself  in  that  way.  Such  seems  to  be 
the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  explana- 
tion of  various  psychic  phenomena  exhibited  all 
through  past  history.  The  demonic  obsessions 
of  the  time  of  Christ  are  explainable  only  on 
this  hypothesis,  as  for  example,  the  case  of  the 
man  of  Gedara,  out  of  whom  it  is  said  there  was 
cast  a  legion  of  devils.  That  is  to  say,  he  was 
released  from  being  the  subject  of  their  com- 
bined infesting  power. 

Now  as  to  the  practical  bearing  of  these  facts 
on  the  relation  between  the  inner  and  the  outer 
man  and  between  the  seen  and  the  unsees  realms. 

First,  on  the  subject  of  regeneration,  or  the 
divinizing  of  the  natural  man,  the  end  for  which 
this  existence  is  given. 

Regeneration  is  effected  by  the  mind's  being 
able  to  see  the  truth  aside  from  and  above  the 
loves  and  desires,  and  so  to  judge  as  to  whether 
the  character  is  conformed  to  the  right.  And 
further,  there  must  be  resident  in  the  mind,  the 
power  termed  freedom  of  the  will,  by  which  to 
force  the  acts  into  conformity  with  what  is  per- 
ceived as  true  and  right. 

The  results  of  the  action  of  these  faculties  is 
character,  which  is  merely  the  accepting  and  in- 
corporating into  the  life  and  stowing  away  in  the 


Two  In  One  167 

subjective  mind  as  fixed  principles,  whatever  is 
received  as  truth  and  good. 

In  this  way  we  are  daily  building  up  ourselves 
in  righteousness — right  relations  to  God — or  in 
unrighteousness — disorderly  states  of  mind  and 
heart.  We  are  laying  up  our  treasures  on  earth 
or  in  Heaven. 

In  all  this  process  the  objective  mind  must 
rule.  If  the  subjective  mind  were  permitted  to 
rule,  then  the  very  end  of  the  existence  of  the 
objective  mind  would  be  thwarted,  viz.:  the  es- 
tablishing of  a  selfhood  of  rationality  and  free- 
dom in  this  outer  degree.  This  can  be  done  only 
by  the  free  and  uncontrolled  choice  and  action 
of  the  outer  mind. 

And  in  consonance  with  this  idea,  we  find  that 
where  the  objective  mind  becomes,  through  hyp- 
notic processes,  or  otherwise,  permanently  under 
the  control  of  the  subjective  mind,  serious  re- 
sults follow.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  most  potent 
factor  in  all  cases  of  insanity. 

By  a  realization  of  the  vital  relation  of  the 
objective  to  the  subjective  minds  and  of  the 
outer  to  the  inner  realms,  we  may  become  open 
to  the  outflowing  of  the  life  and  power  within, 
and  indeed  the  outer  man  shall  eventually  be- 
come the  theater  of  the  full  expression  of  the 
internal  powers;  but  now  and  evermore  these 
powers  must  be  exercised  under  the  control  of 


168  Two  In  One 

the  objective  life  and  thought,  or  at  least  the  sub- 
jective must  act  in  harmony  with  and  not  in  con- 
trol of  the  objective  mind. 

In  this  light  we  can  understand  the  nature  and 
philosophy  of  what  is  termed  spiritualism. 

A  medium  is  simply  a  person  in  whom  the  ob- 
jective mind  has  temporarily  or  permanently 
ceased  to  exercise  normal  control  and  who  is, 
therefore,  given  over  to  the  domination  of  the 
subjective  mind  with  whatever  influences  the 
moral  character  of  the  medium  may  be  affinitized 
in  the  psychic  realm. 

Such  control  of  the  objective  by  the  subjective 
mind  being  in  its  very  nature  abnormal,  the 
practice  of  mediumship  is,  of  course,  injurious. 

And  since  the  subjective  mind  is  dependent  on 
the  objective  for  its  knowledge  of  all  facts  and 
truths  relating  to  the  external  world,  and  even  of 
moral  principles,  the  absurdity  is  manifest  of 
looking  thence  for  knowledge,  instruction  or 
guidance. 

Morover,  it  is  a  surrendering  of  the  individual 
freedom  by  which  alone  man  is  enabled  to  attain 
the  end  for  which  existence  in  this  world  is  be- 
stowed. 

In  the  perfected,  regenerated  state  toward 
which  our  race  is  evolving,  the  interior  and  ex- 
terior minds  and  realms  will  be  one  in  conscious 
life  and  act;  and  in  that  good  time  coming  when 


Two  In  One  169 

evil  shall  have  been  abolished  in  our  race,  there 
will  no  longer  be  any  bar  between  communion  of 
the  new  earth  and  the  new  heavens. 

But  now,  to  have  the  door  thrown  open  to 
such  unrestricted  communication  would  be  to 
have  hell  flow  in  upon  the  earth  to  the  utter  de- 
struction of  human  freedom.  It  was  from  this 
source  that  came  the  demonic  obsessions  and  un- 
utterable depravities  which  abounded  at  the  com- 
ing of  the  Christ ;  and  it  is  thence  that  is  to  come 
the  dire  conflicts  foretold  by  him  again  to  visit 
the  earth  at  his  second  coming. 

The  present  psychic  movement  in  its  various 
phases,  good  and  evil,  is  a  most  significant  sign 
of  the  times.  It  means  the  opening  of  the  long 
closed  objective  mind  to  the  influx  from  the  sub- 
jective realms  of  both  Heaven  and  hell,  to  end 
in  the  final  conflict  and  the  destruction  of  evil. 

"You  have  opened  up  a  wide  field  of  thought 
here,  said  Mr.  Calvin,  and  I  move  that  the 
ject  be  continued  at  our  next  meeting/' 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  continuance  of  this  subject  was  at  your 
suggestion,  I  said  to  Mr.  Calvin  at  our  next  meet- 
ing; we  will  be  pleased  to  hear  from  you. 

"I  have  only  this  to  say,"  he  answered,  "that 
I  congratulate  you  on  having  given,  so  far  as  I 
know,  the  only  rational  and  Scriptural  theory  of 
the  resurrection.  Assuming  the  existence  of 
hades  or  the  spirit  world,  the  correctness  of  your 
psychology  and  your  theory  of  the  object  of  our 
present  existence,  your  idea  of  the  resurrection 
inevitably  follows.  If  I  understood  you,  you 
claim  that  hades  is  the  place  of  immediate  abode 
of  all  who  pass  from  this  life  and  was,  up  to 
Christ,  the  abode  of  all  souls  who  had  previously 
existed  here.  You  are  aware,  of  course,  that  in 
this  you  are  at  variance  with  the  common  senti- 
ment of  the  protestant  church.7* 

"Yes,  I  am  aware  of  the  church's  position. 
Luther,  in  his  opposition  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
purgatory,  went  to  the  extreme  of  denying  any 
intermediate  state  whatever,  and  all  the  protest- 
ant  sects,  except  the  church  of  England,  have 
followed  him  in  this  error.  The  notion  that, 
at  death,  the  soul  ascends  immediately  to  heaven 


172  Two  In  One 

or  plunges  into  hell,  flies  in  the  face  of  reason, 
of  the  teachings  of  the  Scriptures  and  of  the 
common  faith  of  the  church  up  to  the  time  of 
Luther. 

The  Jewish  notion  in  general,  on  this  subject, 
was  that  of  a  heaven,  the  dwelling  place  of  the 
Almighty  and  of  Sheol,  (hades)  the  region  of 
the  phantom  dead.  Their  idea  is  indicated  by 
the  prophet,  Isaiah.  He  says  of  Babylon,  "Sheol 
is  moved  for  thee  to  meet  thee  at  thy  coming. 
It  stirreth  up  the  dead  for  thee,  even  all  the  chief 
ones  of  the  earth;  it  hath  raised  up  from  their 
thrones  all  the  kings  of  the  nations."  Later  on 
under  the  Rabbins,  Sheol  becomes  to  be  divided 
into  separate  regions,  the  upper  region  being 
paradise,  where  the  good  dwelt,  and  the  lower 
place  for  the  wicked.  This  conception  of  the 
unseen  world  is  recognized  by  our  Lord  in  his 
parable  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus,  also  in  his 
language  to  the  thief  on  the  cross,  "This  day 
shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise. "  And  his 
declaration,  "The  time  is  coming  and  now  is 
when  all  that  are  in  their  graves  shall  hear  the 
voice  of  the  Son  of  God  and  come  forth,  they 
that  have  done  good  to  the  resurrection  of  life, 
and  they  that  have  done  evil  to  the  resurrection 
of  judgment,"  implies:  first,  that  there  was  a 
bringing  of  departed  souls  out  of  some  place 
where  they  had  been  dwelling  previous  to  their 


Two  In  One  173 

resurrection;  and  second,  that  this  awakening 
was  requisite  to  the  execution  of  judgment  upon 
those  who  had  done  evil.  The  conclusion  is  in- 
evitable that  unless  these  departed  souls  had  an 
existence  in  some  intermediate  state  they  had  no 
conscious  existence  whatever  until  they  were 
called  forth  by  the  voice  of  Divine  Truth. 

Peter  tells  us  that  Christ  went  and  preached 
to  the  spirits  in  prison.  These  spirits  surely  had 
a  conscious  existence  somewhere.  But  it  could 
not  have  been  in  the  heavens.  Paul  closes  his 
discussion  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  with 
the  triumphant  exclamation,  "0,  death,  where  is 
thy  sting;  0,  hades,  where  is  thy  victory?"  In 
fact,  the  existence  of  a  hades  realm  is  directly 
taught  or  implied  in  all  the  writings  of  the  New 
Testament  and  the  error  of  denying  its  existence 
would  never  have  had  place  in  theology  but  as 
a  supposed  necessary  means  of  getting  rid  of 
purgatory. ' 

"What  of  all  those  who  have  passed  from  this 
world  characterless,  as  for  example,  children  and 
idiots? "  further  inquired  Mr.  Calvin. 

"On  this  subject,  we  are  left  to  rational  de- 
ductions from  established  facts  and  principles. 
Thence,  we  must  conclude  that  by  birth  into  the 
present  existence,  they  acquire  at  least  the  germ 
of  natural  selfhood  which,  being  placed  under 
appropriate  influences  in  the  spirit  realm,  devel- 


174  Two  In  One 

ops  into  fullness  of  manhood  and  womanhood. 
We  can  readily  see  that  the  hereditary  tendencies 
may  become  successively  manifest,  resistance  to 
which  may  afford  a  basis  for  the  forming  of  a 
positive  character  and  open  the  way  for  the  in- 
flowing of  the  Divine  life  and  thereby  of  conscious 
unity  with  Christ  in  God." 

"Does  not  the  law  of  mental  suggestion  ex- 
plain the  philosophy  of  mental  healing  ? ' '  inquired 
Mr.  Clark. 

"It  does  if  we  take  the  term  to  embrace  any 
and  every  means  of  impressing  the  subjective 
mind.  The  relation  of  the  subjective  to  the  ob- 
jective mind  is  phenomenally  expressed  in  the 
relation  of  the  sympathetic  nervous  system  to  the 
vital  functions  of  the  bodily  organism.  It  is  the 
presiding  genius  governing  and  controlling  all 
vital  functions.  It  is  the  fountain  out  of  which 
flow  the  issues  of  bodily  life  and  as  the  fountain 
is,  so  the  streams  will  be.  Bodily  health  or  dis- 
ease are  the  outwardly  registered  mental  states 
of  the  inner  man. 

Thanks  to  modern  methods  of  scientific  inves- 
tigation, viz.:  the  study  of  body  and  mind  in 
their  interrelations,  we  are  now  enabled  for  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  therapeutics  to  answer 
the  questions,  what  constitutes  health  ?  And  what 
is  disease? 

If  the  outer  man  is  the  expression  of  an  out- 


Two  In  One  175 

flow  from  the  primal  depths  within,  where  the 
spiritual  man  dwells  in  perfectness  in  God, 
health  must  consist  in  such  mental  states  of  soul 
and  body  as  to  allow  the  free  and  unperverted 
influx  from  the  spirit;  and  disease  simply  sig- 
nifies some  obstruction  interfering  with  an  or- 
derly influx  from  within.  Hence,  to  effect  a 
cure  requires  only  to  open  or  purify  the  closed 
or  perverted  channel. 

But  the  thoughts  and  emotions  of  the  external 
mind  impressing  the  internal  determine  the  na- 
ture of  its  activities  in  outward  bodily  expres- 
sion. The  heart,  lungs  and  all  the  vital  func- 
tions respond  instantly  to  any  thought  and  feel- 
ing. For  example,  place  a  delicate  thermometer 
in  each  hand  and  then  concentrate  attention 
upon  the  right  hand  and  it  will  grow  warmer 
than  the  left,  indicating  an  increased  flow  of 
blood  to  it.  Again,  a  fit  of  anger  causes  the 
breath  to  come  short,  the  heart  to  beat  vigorously, 
the  blood  to  rush  to  the  face,  the  hands  to  clinch 
and  the  limbs  to  quiver  and  grow  tense.  All 
this  is  but  the  reaction  of  the  subjective  mind 
from  the  mental  force  impressed  upon  it  by  the 
outer  thought  and  feeling.  Thus  the  persistent 
action  of  the  outer  mind  may  impress  upon  the 
internal  mind  a  fixed  state  of  abnormality  and 
produce  chronic  disease,  heart  disease,  dyspepsia, 
or  any  other.  It  follows  that  bodily  conditions 


176  Two  In  One 

as  to  health  and  disease  are  the  outward  expres- 
sions of  the  sum  total  or  resultant  of  the  interior 
mental  states.  All  cures,  therefore,  must  reach 
the  subjective  mind  and  correct  its  abnormalities. 

There  are  different  methods  of  doing  this  and, 
hence,  the  various  pathies  or  systems  of  treat- 
ment. 

The  most  common  is  that  of  drugs.  The 
philosophy  of  cure,  by  drug  action,  has  ever  been 
a  mystery.  We  know,  however,  that  any  sub- 
stance in  nature,  mineral  or  vegetaLle,  is  merely 
the  phenomenal  manifestation  of  a  specific  men- 
tal-vital force  in  the  interior  realm  of  spiritual 
causation. 

Now,  may  it  not  be  that  by  the  introduction 
of  a  drug  into  the  body,  its  vital  essence  is  re- 
leased and  its  underlying  mental  force  is  brought 
to  bear  on  the  subjective  mind?  But  whether 
or  not  such  be  the  rationale  of  drug  medication, 
the  cure  is  effected  and  can  only  be  effected 
through  a  therapeutic  influence  upon  the  sub- 
jective mind. 

As  mind  can  most  immediately  affect  mind,  it 
would  seem  that  the  most  direct  and  potent 
method  of  curing  disease  would  be  the  mental, 
and  so  it  proves  to  be  in  the  measure  in  which 
the  laws  governing  the  whole  matter  are  under- 
stood and  complied  with. 

From  time  immemorial  and  among  all  nations, 


Two  In  One  177 

botk  savage  and  civilized,  this  method  has  been 
successfully  practiced. 

History  abounds  with  wonders  wrought  in  this 
way.  Our  Lord  assumed  that  his  disciples  fol- 
lowing his  example  would  possess  this  power  and 
commanded  them  to  heal  the  sick  as  an  integral 
part  of  their  work.  And  in  the  light  of  our 
present  knowledge  of  the  essential  character  of 
man  and  his  inherent  relations  to  God,  it  readily 
appears  why  every  true  and  enlightened  believer 
in  Christ  should  be  endued  with  this  power. 

The  subjective  mind  may  be  mentally  im- 
pressed either  by  auto-suggestion,  that  is  to  say, 
by  the  objective  mind  of  the  subject  himself,  or 
by  the  action  of  the  mind  of  another  person.  In 
fact,  every  moment  of  our  lives,  by  every  thought 
.and  feeling,  everyone  is  impressing  and  moulding 
the  mental  and  moral  states  of  his  own  sub- 
jective or  soul  mind.  The  truths  or  errors,  the 
good  or  evil,  which  we  accept  and  adopt  in  the 
outer  life  become  fixed  laws  and  principles  of  the 
«oul,  and  thus  character  is  continually  being 
formed.  Moreover,  any  undesirable  state  which 
we  may  find  fixed  in  the  subjective  mind,  such  as 
a  slavish  habit  or  wrong  thought  or  desires,  may 
be  removed  by  concentrating  the  thought  on  the 
opposite  wished  for  result,  and  persistently  sug- 
gesting that  we  have  what  we  wish. 

The  subjective  mind  may  be  reached  as  before 


178  Two  In  One 

stated,  also  by  the  mental  suggestion  of  another. 
The  operator  may  do  this  by  orally  expressing 
his  thought,  and  thus  through  the  objective  mind 
of  the  subject  reach  and  impress  his  inner  mind; 
or,  he  may  attain  the  same  end  by  telepathically, 
silently  conveying  his  thought.  In  the  latter 
case,  it  is  essential  that  the  operator  partially 
psychologize  himself  and  thus  by  concentration 
bring  his  subjective  mind  into  direct  relation 
with  that  of  his  patient.  Both  these  methods 
are  in  constant  use  by  practitioners  either  sepa- 
rately or  in  combination.  Of  course,  all  healing 
practice,  at  a  distance,  is  by  the  telepathic  com- 
munication of  one  subjective  mind  with  another. 
The  practitioners  of  mental  cure  under  the  name 
of  "Psyco-therapy,"  or  "suggestive  thera- 
peutics, "  either  partially  or  wholly  hypnotize 
their  patients  and  in  this  way  bring  their  sug- 
gestions to  bear  directly  on  the  subjective  mind& 
of  the  latter/' 

"What  is  the  difference,"  asked  Mr.  Calvin, 
"between  the  methods  of  Christ  and  those  of 
modern  mental  suggestionists  ? " 

"The  difference,  as  I  see  it,  consists  both  in 
the  degree  and  the  quality  of  their  faith.  The 
potency  of  suggestion  depends  on  the  confidence 
of  both  operator  and  subject  that  it  will  accom- 
plish the  end  sought.  The  confidence  of  the 
mental  cure  suggestionist  is  based  merely  on  ob- 


Two  In  One  179 

servation  of  the  results  obtained  by  experimenta- 
tion. He  knows  nothing,  or  takes  no  account  of 
man's  deeper  nature  and  hence  has  little  under- 
standing of  the  philosophy  of  the  relation  of  the 
outer  man  to  the  inner  realm. 

The  enlightened  Christian  realizes  that  the 
springs  of  life  of  both  himself  and  his  patient 
lie  back  of  the  immediate  subjective  or  soul  mind 
in  the  spiritual  man  in  God,  the  realm  of  all 
power;  and  that  he  is  at  unity  with  God  in  that 
inner  degree  of  being.  He  further  understands 
how,  by  the  right  thought  properly  directed,  the 
obstacles  in  the  mental  states  of  the  subjective 
mind  of  the  patient  may  be  reached,  errors  be 
banished  and  truths  impressed.  His  inner,  spir- 
itual development  enables  him  intuituvely  to  per- 
ceive the  mental  abberrations  of  his  patient.  And 
as  a  result  of  all  this  he  is  endowed  with  an  as- 
sured faith  arising  from  a  consciousness  of  a 
Divine  power  working  in  and  through  him.  Abid- 
ing in  Christ  and  Christ's  word  abiding  in 
him,  his  thought  and  will  become  con- 
sciously the  thought  and  will  of  the  person- 
alized Divinity  within  him.  In  propor- 
tion as  these  conditions  of  unity  with  God 
and  resultant  faith  prevail,  will  he  be  imbued 
with  healing  power.  Such  is  the  Christ  method 
of  healing  in  both  quality  and  degree  which  he 
commanded  his  followers  to  use.  It  is  founded 


180  Two  In  One 

on  law,  and  the  law  being  complied  with  the  re- 
sult follows  as  effect  follows  cause.  Hence  the 
error  of  the  notion  that  healing  was  a  special  gift 
for  a  special  purpose,  limited  to  the  time  of  the 
early  church. 

That  the  healing  of  the  body  should  have  been 
a  concomitant  part  of  the  church's  work  forever- 
more  is  implied  in  the  very  nature  and  object  of 
Christianity.  Christ  was  incarnated  in  order  to 
destroy  sin  and  its  effects — the  works  of  the  devil. 
But  bodily  disease,  as  Christ  declares,  is  the  re- 
sult of  sin ;  and  hence  the  forgiving  of  sin  should 
by  removing  the  cause,  absolve  from  its  effects  in 
the  body.  The  Lord  said  to  those  he  healed, 
"Go  and  sin  no  more,  lest  a  worse  thing  come 
upon  thee. '  *  The  only  reason  that  bodily  healing 
has  not  always  gone  along  paripassu  with  deliver- 
ance from  sin  is,  that  materialism  has,  in  the  pop- 
ular mind,  divorced  the  spiritual  realm  of  causa- 
tion from  the  natural  realm  of  effects  and  thus 
shut  off  all  understanding  of  the  relations  be- 
tween soul  and  body,  and  thereby  removed  all 
ground  for  faith  in  reaching  bodily  conditions  by 
mental  methods. 

"How  about  the  early  church?"  The  world  of 
that  day  had  no  philosophical  knowledge  of  the 
relations  of  the  inner  to  the  outer  man  and  yet 
they  carried  out  Christ's  commission  to  heal. 

"The  faith  of  the  early  Christians  was  the  re- 


Two  In  One  181 

suit  of  a  Divine  inspiration  from  the  full  tide  of 
inflowing  life  from  the  newly  risen  Saviour,  and 
had  no  permanent  basis  in  an  understanding  of 
the  law. 

But  now,  the  time  has  arrived  in  race  develop- 
ment when  faith  can  be  grounded  upon  a  rational 
understanding,  or  upon  a  scientific  and  philosoph- 
icnl  basis  and  hence  not  only  will  be  permanent  but 
will  grow  more  and  more  in  potency  as  the  sun  of 
this  new  era  rises  toward  its  zenith. 

"Since  character  is  formed  by  the  determina- 
tion of  the  will  and  outward  obedience  in  act," 
said  Mr.  Priestly,  "it  becomes  a  matter  of  the  first 
importance  to  understand  just  what  constitutes 
the  will  and  how  it  may  be  controlled.  It  is  the 
result  of  a  preponderance  of  motives  for  or 
against  any  particular  course  of  action,  or  is  it 
an  autocratic  power  which  can  act  against, 
and  in  spite  of,  any  degree  of  impelling 
desires  and  feelings  ? ' ' 

"It  seems  to  me  that  the  new  psychology  comes 
to  our  aid  here.  The  will  is  shown  to  have  its 
seat  in  the  subjective  mind  and  to  be  the  outgo- 
ing resultant  of  the  combined  impressions  of 
thought,  emotion  and  affection  impressed  upon  the 
subjective  mind  by  the  objective.  The  outer 
mind,  by  auto-suggestion,  contributes  the  im- 
pressions that  make  up  the  will  power  and  there- 
by determines  the  quality  and  quantity  of  its  out- 


182  Two  In  One 

flow  in  activity,  every  thought,  feeling  and  de- 
termination of  the  objective  mind  being  a  tribu- 
tary rivulet  swelling  the  current.  Thus  a  man 
can  create  for  himself  a  power  of  choice  for  good 
or  evil.  Herein,  in  fact,  consists  the  basis  of  his 
freedom  and  responsibility. 

Furthermore,  the  will  power  is  supplemented  by 
contributory  forces  with  which  the  mind  is  in  con- 
nection, both  in  this  world  and  in  the  psychic 
realm.  The  subjective  mind  being  in  vital  re- 
lation with  the  great  ocean  of  mentality,  its  posi- 
tive states  become  a  center  of  attraction,  drawing 
into  its  channel  those  environing  forces.  This  may 
be  illustrated  by  considering  the  process  of 
growth  of  any  religious  cult.  An  individual,  for 
example,  becomes  deeply  persuaded  of  the  truth 
and  importance  of  a  certain  doctrine  or  religious 
theory  and  by  the  intensity  of  his  feelings  draws 
other  minds  into  his  stream  of  thought,  and  these 
others,  and  so  he  presently  finds  himself  the  focal 
and  radiating  center  of  great  mental  forces  in  an 
ever  increasing  and  widening  circle.  The  same 
law  holds  with  reference  to  any  fixed  purpose  and 
determined  effort  by  any  one  in  any  line  what- 
ever. 

This  principle  has  an  important  bearing  in  all 
our  relations  to  others.  The  outgoing  of  our 
lives  is  constantly,  whether  we  will  or  not,  silently 


Two  In  One  183 

and  telepathically  impressing  the  subjective  minds 
of  all  those  whom  our  thoughts  may  reach. 

Thought  is  infectious.  By  its  pervasive  influ- 
ence, popular  opinion  is  formed;  diseases  are 
propagated;  crime  and  suicide  abound,  and  fads 
of  various  kinds  take  their  rise  and  run  their 
course.  A  crime  is  committed,  for  instance,  and  all 
its  horrible  details  are  given  through  the  press, 
thereby  implanting  suggestions  in  the  minds  of 
many  susceptible  persons,  from  day  to  day,  until 
they  become  in  a  measure  psychologized  and,  op- 
portunity offering,  are  precipitated  into  the  com- 
mission of  a  similar  crime.  Thus  a  crop  of  mur- 
ders or  other  outrages  frequently  follows  public 
trials  and  executions.  Capital  punishment  has 
proven  to  be  not  only  not  a  deterrent  of  crime,  but 
really  to  promote  it. 

In  this  way,  also  disease  is  propagated.  Adver- 
tisements, in  the  press,  of  patent  nostrums  as  cure- 
alls,  describing  the  symptoms  of  disease,  are  read 
by  multitudes  who  find  in  the  symptoms  some  de- 
tail which  seems  to  fit  themselves,  and  which  be- 
comes a  suggestion  resulting  in  their  becoming 
invalids  and  medicine  fiends;  but  who,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  such  suggestions,  would  have  overcome 
their  slight  ailments  and  enjoyed  good  health. 
Some  particular  form  of  disease,  say  appendicitis, 
may  and  frequently  does  become  a  fad  and  there 
is  a  general  rush  to  get  it. 


184  Two  In  One 

The  importance  of  understanding  the  law  of 
suggestion  and  its  practical  application  cannot  be 
overestimated.  This  is  true  of  all  professions  and 
in  all  walks  of  life,  but  especially  of  parents  in 
the  rearing  of  their  children  and  most  especially 
so  of  mothers.  The  feminine  mind  as  compared 
with  the  masculine  is  subjective.  Children  are 
also  subjective  in  harmony  with  the  mental  qual- 
ity of  woman.  Hence  woman's  divinely  provi- 
dential adaptedness  to  taking  loving  care  of  them. 
The  inmost  soul  of  the  true  mother,  as  she  fondles 
her  babe  to  her  bosom  or  talks  to  the  prattling  lit- 
tle one  at  her  side,  is  in  vital  touch  with  its  tender 
nature.  She  intuitively  understands  the  work- 
ings of  its  infantile  mind  and  it  understands  her. 
Every  thought  she  imparts  is  ensouled  in  love. 
These  love  thoughts  are  impressed  upon  the 
child's  subjective  mind  and  remain  as  a  treasure 
store  of  good  to  be  drawn  upon  in  all  after  life 
and  which,  above  all  influences,  go  to  make  up 
character. 

Of  course,  this  is  to  be  understood  of  wise  and 
loving  mothers.  The  opposite  influences  of  ig- 
norant and  vicious  mothers  are  equally  potent  for 
evil.  A  child  can  be  and  often  is  made  cruel  or 
loving,  good  or  vicious,  truthful  or  untruthful,  by 
being  persistently  told  that  it  is  so.  Its  tender 
mind  is  a  sensitive  plate  receiving  impressions 
from  its  environment.  In  view  of  these  facts  and 


Two  In  One  185 

considering  the  prevalent  ignorance  on  this  sub- 
ject, herein  is  afforded  a  most  promising  field  for 
cultivation  by  women  in  their  club  work. 

"Pardon  me,"  said  Mrs.  Morven,  "I  wish  to  re- 
cur to  the  difference  between  the  Christ  method  of 
treatment  and  that  of  the  mental  suggestions! 
It  may  be  illustrated  by  a  synopsis  of  a  self-treat- 
ment in  each,  setting  forth  the  principles  of  each 
respectively.  Here  is  an  extract  from  a  work  on 
suggestive  therapeutics.  It  is  a  physician's  pre^ 
sc Option  to  his  patient: 

"By  reason  of  my  daily  partaking  of  the  life 
essentials,  food,  water,  air,  sunsLine  and  exercise, 
I  am  increasing  my  mental  and  physical  strength. 
I  am  growing  in  strength,  determination,  aggres- 
siveness, courage,  confidence  and  fearlessness.  I 
am  gaining  in  health  by  thinking  thoughts  of 
health,  and  partaking  of  the  life  essentials.  I 
drink  at  least  two  quarts  of  water  per  day  and 
as  I  sip  it,  I  feel  assured  that  it  will  increase  the 
secretions  of  my  body,  and  it  does  effect  that  end. 
I  am  thoroughly  masticating  my  food.  It  will 
increase  the  quantity  of  gastric  juice  and  my 
stomach  will  perform  its  work  of  digestion  prop- 
erly. All  my  vital  organs  are  performing  their 
functions  normally  and  healthfully.  I  am  becom- 
ing a  strong  man,  in  every  sense  of  the  word.  I 
am  a  strong  man  now.  I  am  hopeful  and  cheerful 
and  filled  with  self-confidence,  strength  and  ag- 


186  Two  In  One 

gressiveness.  I  am  fearless  and  ambitious.  I 
can  and  will  be  successful  in  everything  I  under- 
take. I  have  all  the  attributes  of  success.  I  suc- 
ceed because  I  am  a  success. ' '  And  so  on  indefi- 
nitely, the  suggestions  being  varied  according  to 
the  patient's  mental  and  physical  condition. 

It  will  be  observed  that  there  is  not  here  the 
slightest  hint  of  man 's  spiritual  nature  or  any  rec- 
ognition of  any  life  or  force  beyond  the  sphere 
of  the  personal  mentality  and  will.  Now,  con- 
trast with  this  a  self -treatment,  by  the  applica- 
tion of  the  principles  of  spiritual  Christianity. 
"God  is  the  all  of  substance,  life,  intelligence, 
power,  reality.  God  is  omnipresent;  that  is  to 
say,  the  fullness  of  the  Divine  life  and  power  is 
equally  in  every  point  in  space,  and  not  one  part 
here  and  another  there. 

I  am  immersed  in  the  Divine  Spirit  of  Love, 
Truth  and  Life,  even  as  my  body  is  immersed  in 
the  atmosphere.  In  God,  I  live,  move  and  have 
being.  My  life,  my  love,  my  intelligence,  my 
strength,  are  the  Divine  life,  love,  intelligence  and 
power  momentarily  acting  in  and  through  me. 

I,  in  my  essential  spiritual  self,  have  ever  had 
being  in  God,  as  an  idea  in  and  of  the  Eternal  One. 

This  outer  existence  is  only  an  outward  range 
or  degree  of  consciousness  of  my  eternal,  spiritual 
ego,  bestowed  upon  me  by  the  loving  Father  in 
order  that  through  outer  conditions  of  seeming 


Two  In  One  187 

life-in-self,  in  a  realm  of  seeming  outward  reali- 
ties, I  might  be  endowed  with  a  selfhood  freely 
and  voluntarily  exercising  the  Divine  power,  and 
thus  reciprocating  the  Divine  love  as  a  seeming  in- 
dependent being. 

The  Divine  Life  ever  seeks  to  flow  down  and 
into  my  outer  self  or  me,  and  thereby  to  spirit- 
ualize me  and  bring  me  into  a  conscious  state  of 
at-one-ment  with  the  Divine  self  and  so  to  endow 
me  with  Divine  life  and  power. 

My  life  is  one  with  the  Christ  life  in  me,  he 
being  the  vine  and  I,  a  branch  in  that  vine. 

I  yield  myself  to  the  Divine  will.  I  force  my 
outer  thought  and  life  into  harmony  with  the 
promptings  of  the  Christ  within;  and  so  the  Di- 
vine life  is  being  organized  into  my  outer  self  and 
I  am,  even  in  my  physical  senses,  becoming  spir- 
itualized— a  Son  of  God. 

The  Divine  life  is  now  descending  into  the  out- 
most degree  of  my  bodily  structure,  vivifying  the 
minutest  cell  with  spiritual  life.  I  am  dwelling 
in  this  Divine  consciousness  and  hence  can  have  no 
bodily  disease  or  weakness.  My  body  is  the 
"temple  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 

By  the  indwelling  of  the  Divine  life  and  power, 
I  am  delivered  from  all  bondage  to  natural  hered- 
ity, whether  of  disease  or  of  evil  propensities,  and 
from  erroneous  thought  or  other  infestations  from 


188  Two  In  One 

whatever  source,  either  from  the  natural  or  the 
psychic  realm. 

Dwelling  in  the  "secret  place  of  the  most 
High,"  nothing  can  harm  me,  "no  plague  come 
nigh  my  dwelling. "  "He  gives  his  angels  charge 
over  me,  lest  I  dash  my  foot  against  a  stone. " 

All  things  work  together  for  my  good.  I 
"dwell  under  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty," 
where  no  evil  of  earth  or  hell  can  reach  me.  In 
fact,  resting  in  God  as  the  All  there  is  to  me  no 
evil  in  reality. 

Abiding  in  Christ  and  seeking  first  his  King- 
dom and  righteousness,  all  my  wants  of  whatever 
kind  are  supplied.  "The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd, 
I  shall  not  want." 

There  is  only  the  one  time,  the  now.. .  In  that 
I  live.  I  am  in  the  Christ,  and  the  Christ  is  in  me 
now. 

There  is  no  age  in  spirit,  and  hence  dwelling  in 
the  Divine  life  there  can  be  to  me  no  weakness  or 
decrepitude  from  increasing  years,  but  only 
abounding  health  and  strength. 

Being  in  God,  I  am  enthroned  at  the  center 
and  source  of  all  causation.  My  life  is  God's 
life  manifesting  itself.  Therefore  my  thought 
and  effort  in  the  work  to  which  God  calls  me, 
become  all  powerful  in  the  accomplishment  of 
the  ends  whereunto  I  send  them.  My  thoughts 


Two  In  One  189 

are  winged  messengers  bearing  good  to  others 
and  returning  to  me  laden  with  blessings. 

I  here  and  now  and  forever  take  my  stand  as 
"  porter  at  the  door  of  thought/ '  freely  invit- 
ing all  good,  but  denying  entrance  to  all  evil — 
shutting  out  every  thought  and  feeling  of  self- 
love,  everything  out  of  harmony  with  love  to 
God  and  my  fellow  man,  every  claim  of  weak- 
ness or  disease,  and  saying  with  Jesus,  "Get  the 
hence,  Satan/' 

In  fine,  and  all  comprehensively,  since  my  spir- 
itual self  or  the  Divine  element  within  me  con- 
stitutes my  only  real  being,  and  when  awakened 
into  consciousness  has  power  to  control  all  lower 
conditions,  I  hereby  now  and  forever  ally  my- 
self, in  love,  thought,  word  and  deed  with  that 
principle  as  the  truest — the  only  real  fact  con- 
cerning me.  I  take  sides  with  it  against  all 
alien  influences  of  sin,  disease,  pain,  weakness 
and  death,  and  determinedly  dispel  all  obstruc- 
tions of  doubt  and  fear  in  order  that  the  Divine 
force  within  may  have  free  scope  to  work  out  its 
will  in  me  and  through  me.  Amen. 

"This  is  what  I  would  call  a  prayer, "  said  Mr. 
Calvin. 

"Yes/'  she  replied.  "Prayer  or  treatment. 
It  is  all  the  same.  The  object  is  to  bring  the 
mind  into  a  conscious  state  of  receptiveness  of 
the  Divine  inflowing  life,  God  being  the  infinite 


190  Two  In  One 

Giver  and  man  the  finite  receiver.  The  attain- 
ment of  such  mental  state  is  the  purpose  of  all 
worship  whether  of  speech,  song  or  ritualistic  ob- 
servance. The  substitution  of  any  external  act 
or  form  for  the  receptive  mental  state  is  of  the 
nature  of  idolatry." 

"Assuming  the  recognition  of  the  truth  of 
those  statements,"  I  remarked,  "prayer  be- 
comes an  effort  to  consciously  realize  them  by  the 
affirmation  of  them  as  true  and  forcing  the 
thought  and  life  into  conformity  therewith.  It 
follows  of  course,  that  in  so  far  as  such  realiza- 
tion is  attained,  we  have  what  we  seek  in  the 
ultimation  of  the  Divine  life  in  health  and 
strength  and  all  needed  good.  This  mental 
state  becoming  permanent,  the  Divine  life  be- 
comes to  express  itself  in  us  and  through  us  as 
spontaneously  as  we  breathe;  and  all  voluntary 
effort  for  mental  adjustment  in  our  relations  to 
God  naturally  ceases. 

But,  of  course,  to  one  who  does  not  recognize 
his  essential  inherency  in  God,  but  thinks  of 
himself  as  a  distinct  personality  occupying  legal 
relations  to  his  Creator,  prayer  becomes  peti- 
tion that  the  things  prayed  for  may  be  done  for 
him  and  bestowed  upon  him,  instead  of  being  the 
operation  of  the  Divine  will  in  and  through  him. 

The  *  Lord's  prayer'  is  adapted  to  both  mental 
states.  It  may  be  rendered  affirmatively  in  the 


Two  In  One  191 

present  tense  thus;  Thy  name  is  being  hallowed; 
thou  art  giving  us  our  daily  bread;  thou  dost 
forgive  us  our  debts,  and  so  on,  thereby  being 
adapted  to  the  use  of  those  who  recognize  the 
truth  of  man's  essential  oneness  with  the  Di- 
vine. ' ' 

"I  suggest,"  said  Mr.  Priestly,  "The  Spiritual 
Nature  of  Sex  as  our  next  subject,"  and  so  it 
was  agreed. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Sex  is  the  essential  feature  of  man's  existence, 
the  prime  fountain  of  his  loves  and  the  regulator 
of  all  his  relations  both  here  and  hereafter. 

But,  strange  to  say,  that  notwithstanding  the 
exceeding  importance  of  correct  knowledge  on 
this  subject,  it  is  that  upon  which,  above  almost 
all  others,  there  rests  the  greatest  darkness  aris- 
ing out  of  the  fact  that  its  essential  principle  is 
not  understood. 

An  erroneous  interpretation  of  Christ's  saying 
that  in  the  resurrection  there  is  neither  marry- 
ing nor  giving  in  marriage,  but  they  are  as  the 
angels,  has  led  to  a  common  idea  among  Chris- 
tians that  sex  is  not  inherent  in  the  spiritual  na- 
ture of  man,  but  belongs  only  to  this  present 
phase  of  existence;  or  if  it  be  carried  over  into 
the  future,  that  man  and  woman  will  not  be 
united  in  marriage  relations,  as  husband  and 
wife. 

Among  the  leaders  of  the  modern  woman's 
rirights  movement,  the  idea  has  prevailed  that 
even  in  this  life  the  differences  between  the  sexes 
in  their  affectional  and  mental  characteristics,  in 
their  tastes,  physical  strength,  etc.,  are  a  mere 
matter  of  habits  of  life  and  heredity,  and  all 


194  Two  In  One 

that  is  necessary  to  transform  a  woman  into  a 
man  in  these  respects  is  to  change  her  education 
and  mode  of  life. 

On  the  question  of  marriage,  there  has  been 
much  confusion  of  thought.  Monogamy  not 
being  established  on  any  inherent  principle,  the 
marriage  of  one  man  to  one  woman  has  been  re- 
garded from  the  standpoint  merely  of  social  ex- 
pediency, and  hence  the  laxity  in  which  the  mar- 
ital bond  is  coming  to  be  held  and  the  increas- 
ing prevalence  of  divorces. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  characteristics  of 
this  day  of  marvels  is  the  astonishing  changes 
which  in  the  last  few  decades  have  taken  place 
in  the  status  of  woman,  industrially,  education- 
ally, socially  and  politically. 

Throughout  all  past  ages  she  has  held  an  in- 
ferior position  to  man.  Among  savages,  she 
has  been  a  slave  and  a  drudge.  But  even  among 
civilized  nations,  America  and  England  for  in- 
stance, up  to  about  fifty  years  ago,  industrially, 
there  were  only  five  or  six  places  open  to  her, 
whereby  she  might  become  economically  free 
from  slavish  dependence  on  man ;  and  these  were 
mostly  of  a  domestic  nature. 

Now,  however,  the  doors  to  all  industries  and 
professions  have  been  thrown  wide  open  to  her 
and  she  is  rapidly  entering  them  in  close  compe- 
tition with  the  other  sex. 


Two  In  One  195 

Formerly,  she  was  assumed  to  be  incapable, 
with  rare  exceptions,  of  receiving  other  than  the 
rudiments  of  education,  and  it  was  held  that  any 
higher  education  was  useless  because  her  position 
and  duties  did  not  call  for  it.  Hence,  while  boys 
were  sent  to  college  and  taught  in  the  higher 
branches  of  learning  ,their  sisters  were  kept  at 
home  and  added  to  their  slender  stock  of  primary 
knowledge  only  such  feminine  accomplishments 
as  fine  needle  work  and  a  smattering  of  music. 

In  the  way  of  teaching,  woman  was  thought 
capable  only  of  taking  charge  of  a  small  class  of 
young  children,  and  her  labors  were  thought 
worthy  of  only  a  very  meager  wage. 

But  now,  not  only  are  the  colleges  and  univer- 
sities thrown  open  to  her  for  co-education  along 
with  her  brothers,  but  women's  colleges  abound 
for  their  exclusive  benefit.  It  has  come  to  pass 
that  in  the  number  of  graduates  from  High  and 
Normal  schools  the  girls  far  surpass  the  boys.  And 
as  a  teacher,  woman  is  fast  monopolizing  the  edu- 
cational field  in  all  common  school  grades. 

Socially,  she  formerly  counted  for  compara- 
tively little.  In  all  matters  of  public  reform,  her 
influence  was  felt  only  through  her  husband  or 
male  friends;  but  now,  through  the  various  femi- 
nine organizations  abounding,  she  is  becoming  the 
chief  factor  in  all  reform  movements. 

Formerly,  not  only  had  she  no  voice  in  matters 


196  Two  In  One 

political  and  governmental,  but  she  had  almost 
no  rights  before  the  law.  In  her  own  name  and 
right,  she  could  own  nothing — not  her  home, 
her  children  or  even  the  clothes  she  wore.  Her 
personality  was  merged  into  that  of  her  husband 
or  male  relatives.  She  was  only  an  annex  to 
man. 

But  now,  she  has  already  secured  most  legal 
rights  equally  with  man  and  is  rapidly  moving 
on  toward  the  attainment  of  the  same  voting 
franchise  and  office  holding  privileges  as  he. 

All  this  movement  has  been  the  result  of 
woman's  own  efforts.  She  has  seemed  suddenly 
to  awaken  from  her  ages-long  sleep. 

Why  this  awakening?  Whither  does  it  tend! 
What  is  the  meaning  of  it?  Is  it  an  unmixed 
good,  or  are  there  social  dangers  attending  it? 

These  and  all  other  important  questions  relat- 
ing to  this  subject  can  be  answered  only  by  an 
understanding  of  the  essential  nature  of  sex,  and 
thus  the  basing  of  our  thought  on  its  eternal 
principle.  We  must  get  back  to  God.  Man  is 
God's  image  and  likeness.  In  God,  then,  we 
must  look  for  those  profound  qualities  which  are 
exfigured  in  man  in  his  sex  nature. 

God  is  dual  Love  and  Wisdom.  This  duality 
is  expressed  throughout  all  creation.  It  is  ex- 
hibited in  the  light  and  heat  of  the  sun;  in  the 
positive  and  negative  qualities  of  electricity  and 


Two  In  One  197 

in  the  chemical  forces,  which  by  their  union  con- 
stitute the  matters  of  the  globe.  The  dualism  of 
sex  is  the  most  prominent  feature  of  living  organ- 
isms and  prevails  from  the  vegetable  to  man,  cul- 
minating in  him  in  the  personalities  and  union 
of  man  and  woman  in  marriage. 

We  read  in  Genesis:  "So  God  created  man 
in  his  own  image,  in  the  image  of  God  created  he 
him;  male  and  female  created  he  them." 

God  being  the  Infinite  Cause  and  His  creation 
the  effect,  and  the  effect  being  no  other  than  an 
expression  of  the  cause,  all  nature,  each  thing 
in  measure  according  to  its  quality  must  bear  the 
lineaments  of  the  Creator.  As  already  noted, 
this  is  exemplified  in  the  duality  that  everywhere 
prevails;  but  in  man  supremely  as  the  crowning 
work  of  God,  the  full  and  complete  manifestation 
of  the  Divine  Author. 

The  positive  and  negative  attractions  of  the  in- 
organic forces  become  sex  attraction  in  the  or- 
ganic world,  and  in  man,  on  the  higher  plane  of 
development,  they  manifest  themselves  between 
man  and  woman  as  spiritual  love  divested  of  the 
lower  and  grosses  features  of  sensuous  attrac- 
tion. 

The  nature  of  this  spiritual  attraction  will  ap- 
pear by  considering  the  essential  qualities  which 
distinguish  and  differentiate  the  sexes  from  each 
other.  The  fundamental  factors  constituting  the 


198  Two  In  One 

personality  of  both  men  and  women  are  the 
power  of  loving  and  of  thinking.  Love  formu- 
lates itself  in  thought  and  flows  outward  in  will. 
Or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  each  man  and  each 
woman  is  made  up  of  two  factors,  viz. :  the 
faculty  of  receiving  truth  and  that  of  receiving 
love  from  the  Infinite  Fountain  of  Love  and  Wis- 
dom. But  the  sexes  differ  in  the  manner  and 
quality  of  receiving.  Woman  is  so  constituted 
as  in  external  form  and  function  to  emphasize 
love;  and  man,  truth.  The  attraction  of  the 
masculine  element  in  him  to  the  feminine  ele- 
ment in  her,  which  we  term  sex-love,  is,  essen- 
tially that  of  the  truth  being  attracted  to  its 
mate,  love.  Just  as  God  is  Love  and  Wisdom 
in  unity,  so  the  love  between  man  and  woman, 
the  recipients  in  form  of  the  Divine  Life,  is  but 
the  manifestation  of  the  Infinite  Father-Mother 
love  and  wisdom  in  his  children  seeking  unity. 

The  Divine  Love  and  Wisdom  is  a  central  sun 
of  life  radiating  outward  and  expressing  itself 
or  himself  in  creation.  From  eternity,  the  Ab- 
solute One  has  existed  as  Love  and  Wisdom  ex- 
pressed in  spiritual  form  or  forms  termed  in 
John's  Gospel,  the  Word,  and  through  or  by 
means  of  the  Word  all  the  visible  universe  of 
sense  appearances  have  form  and  existence.  All 
the  phenomenal  worlds  with  their  manifold 
spatial  expressions,  are,  in  fact,  but  the  types 


Two  In  One  199 

of  the  antitypal  or  spiritual  forms  of  the  eternal 
Word. 

"In  the  beginning,"  runs  the  record,  ''was  the 
Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God  and  the  Word 
was  God.  All  things  were  made  by  Him  and 
without  Him  was  there  not  anything  made  that 
was  made." 

Infinite  Love  from  eternity  joined  with  In- 
finite Wisdom — God  as  a  duality — manifested 
itself  in  an  infinitude  of  spiritual  dual  forms  in 
his  image  and  likeness.  This  Logos  or  Word  is 
only  another  name  for  universal  man,  and  the 
spiritual  forms  inherent  therein  are  individual 
men  whose  ultimate  destiny  is  to  be  evolved  by 
birth  into  time  and  space  consciousness  as  out- 
ward personalities,  in  whom  the  Divine  perfec- 
tions are  to  be  ultimated,  as  exemplified  in  the 
person  of  the  Christ,  the  typical  and  ideal  man, 
' 'The  Word  made  flesh." 

What  we  term  creation  is  the  outbirth  of 
these  eternally  existent  individualities  into  outer 
planes  of  consciousness,  in  appearances  of  fixed 
time  and  space,  such  as  that  in  which  we  find 
ourselves  in  our  present  state  of  existence. 

But  in  the  assumption  by  natural  birth  of  this 
outer  consciousness,  the  eternally  two-fold  indi- 
vidual becomes  two  seemingly  separate  ^  and  dis- 
tince  personalities,  the  love  element  of  the  eter- 


200  Two  In  One 

lally  two-in-one  taking  on  the  form  of  woman 
and  the  truth  element  that  of  man. 

In  our  present  natural  or  personal  conscious- 
ness, which  "discerneth  not  the  things  of  the 
Spirit/'  these  two  personalities  do  not  and  can- 
not certainly  recognize  their  eternal  unity.  In- 
deed, in  the  flesh  they  may  never  meet  or  become 
personally  acquainted. 

"While,  in  fact,  this  present  personal  state  is 
merely  a  projection  of  the  real  man  into  outer 
planes  of  thought  and  feeling,  it  appears  to  this 
outer  consciousness  as  real  in  itself.  The  ac- 
ceptance and  confirmation  of  this  seeming  for 
the  real  is  the  eating  of  the  forbidden  fruit,  the 
direful  results  of  which  have  cursed  our  race 
from  the  beginning.  But  when  two  personalities, 
the  woman  and  the  man,  who  have  been  eternally 
one  in  spirit,  come  to  themselves  in  God,  as  all 
eventually  will — when  they  "  awake  in  his  like- 
ness," they  know  themselves  to  be  one. 

This  outward  plane  of  existence  which  I  term 
the  personality  is  bestowed  never  to  be  lost.  It 
forms  the  matrix  into  which  a  consciousness  of 
the  Divine  is  born  so  that  the  extremest  outer 
senses  become  instinct  with  a  realized  indwell- 
ing of  Divinity.  God  comes  to  tabernacle  with 
man. 

In  this  final  perfected  state,  the  husband  be- 
holds in  his  wife  evermore,  his  externalized  love- 


Two  In  One  201 

self,  and  the  wife  sees  in  her  husband  her  wis- 
dom-self in  external  visible  form.  Hence  their 
love  of  each  other  becomes  in  its  deepest  ground 
the  love  of  self,  and  the  love  of  God  as  manifest  in 
each  other;  and  so  their  union  to  each  other  be- 
comes one  and  the  same  as  their  union  with  God. 
This  is  the  Divine  marriage  of  which  we  read  in 
the  Scriptures,  "the  marriage  of  the  lamb  is 
come,  and  the  bride  hath  made  herself  ready." 
Hence,  also,  we  see  the  meaning  of  the  Lord's 
saying  that  "in  the  resurrection,  they  neither 
marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  are  as  the 
angels."  As  Browning,  the  poet,  puts  it: 

"Be  as  the  angels  rather  who,  apart, 
know  themselves  unto  one,  are   found   at  length 
married,  but  marry  never ;  no,  nor  given  in 
marriage;  they  are  man  and  wife  at  once, 
when  the  true  time  is." 

It  will  readily  be  perceived  that  the  love  aris- 
ing out  of  the  spiritual  duality  of  man  and  woman 
in  God  is  the  Divine  Fountain  of  all  human  af- 
fections— is  the  very  life  of  man's  life  in  all  out- 
ward manifestations.  It  is  the  holy  of  holies  in 
man,  the  immediate  point  of  Divine  influx  into 
man,  the  sacred  place  of  meeting  of  man  with 
God.  It  is  the  source  of  the  inexpressible  joys 
of  the  Saint's  raptured  communion  with  God,  of 
the  mother's  tender  affection,  of  friendship's 


202  Two  In  One 

holy  bonds,  and  of  all  pure  matrimonial  felicities. 
And  these  beatitudes,  as  experienced  in  their 
highest  degree  in  our  present  unperfected  state, 
are  but  the  faintest  shadow  of  that  heavenly 
bliss  which  eternally  flows  from  fully  realized 
oneness  in  spirit,  whereby  the  door  is  fully  opened 
in  mind  and  heart  to  the  Divine  influx  and  Di- 
vine indwelling,  the  very  body  to  the  outmost 
bounds  of  sense  becoming  God's  holy  tabernacle. 

Since  this  is  the  highest,  the  most  sacred,  the 
very  central  fountain  of  all  loves,  it  follows  that 
its  profanation  or  the  violation  of  its  funda- 
mental laws  of  monogamy  and  purity  is  the  most 
far  reaching  and  hurtful  of  all  sins.  And  the 
history  of  our  race  bears  out  this  statement. 
Sexual  lust  resulting  in  promiscuity  and  marital 
infidelity  has  ever  been  the  very  pandora's  box 
out  of  which  have  poured  the  chief  woes  of  our 
race. 

The  violation  of  law  in  the  sex  relation  was 
manifestly  the  prime  element  in  man's  original  de- 
parture from  the  way  of  life,  as  plainly  appears 
upon  the  surface  of  the  Edenic  narrative.  By 
his  acceptance  of  the  sense  world  and  the  ap- 
pearance of  life-in-self  as  an  absolute  reality,  the 
spiritual  was  shut  out  from  his  perception,  the 
sense  of  spiritual  oneness  of  husband  and  wife 
was  lost,  and  hence  the  relation  between  them 
became  purely  external.  As  it  is  written,  "Adam 


Two  In  One  203 

fell  into  a  deep  slumber  (as  regards  spiritual  con- 
sciousness) and  a  wife  meet  for  him  in  his  lonely 
state  was  constructed  from  a  rib,  taken  from  his 
side.  That  is  to  say,  in  this  outer  sense  rela- 
tion, the  very  substance  of  his  wife 's  being  became 
to  him  lifeless  bone  as  contrasted  with  the  vital, 
spiritual  relation  which  he  had  forfeited ;  and  her 
oneness  with  him  became  a  mere  external  sense 
unity — "  bone  of  his  bone  and  flesh  of  his  flesh,'7 
instead  of  soul  of  his  soul  and  spirit  of  his 
spirit. 

From  that  day  to  this,  the  Adam  sleep  has 
rested  upon  the  race  and  to  awaken  him  from 
which  was  the  mission  and  work  of  the  Christ. 
Whosoever  believeth  in  him,  receives  power 
thereby  to  become  a  Son  of  God — that  is,  through 
union  with  him,  the  consciousness  is  opened  into 
the  realm  of  reality  whereby  man  perceives  him- 
self as  the  eternal  Son  of  God. 

We  read,  that  following  the  loss  of  conscious 
oneness  in  God,  the  woman  being  beguiled  by  the 
serpent  of  sense,  partook  of  the  forbidden  fruit, 
that  is,  indulged  the  desire  and  belief  of  life  and 
power  in  and  of  self  and  sense,  and  so  she  gave 
to  her  husband  and  he  did  eat.  The  affections 
(the  woman)  influenced  the  intellect  (the  man) 
thus  the  entire  man  making  the  fatal  plunge  into 
the  pool  of  sensualism. 

Woman  in  her  dual  relation  to  man  being  in 


204  Two  In  One 

form  and  function  love,  and  he  truth,  thus  she 
being  the  soul  and  inspiration  of  his  thought, 
and  he  being  the  formulator  and  executor  of 
her  loves,  it  was  inevitable  that  she  should  lead 
and  he  follow  in  the  original  transgression.  But 
now  in  their  sensualized  state,  to  have  allowed 
the  affections  to  lead  and  govern  would  have 
been  for  the  race  to  have  forever  continued  its 
downward  course.  It  became  necessary,  there- 
fore, for  man  (truth),  the  intellect  enlightened 
from  moral  and  spiritual  precepts  inculcated  from 
without,  to  take  the  lead  and  force  the  affections 
to  follow.  And  so  it  has  ever  been.  Truth  has 
been  constrained  in  the  interests  of  order  to  hold 
the  reins  over  the  loves  in  the  individual;  and 
similarly,  man  has  ever  dominated  woman,  not 
as  has  been  assumed  merely  because  he  is  phys- 
ically more  powerful  than  she,  but  because  in 
the  present  sensualized  state  of  the  race  it  has 
been  a  necessity. 

But  the  time  is  coming  when  the  consciousness 
of  our  humanity  shall  have  become  spiritualized, 
when  the  love  element  shall  come  to  imbue  the 
truth  element  with  good  only  and  woman  will 
again  take  her  rightful  place  as  man's  unerring 
inspiration,  and  they  shall  co-operate  as  co-ordi- 
nate factors  in  perfect  harmony. 

There  are  significant  signs  that  we  are  at  least 
in  the  dawn  of  this  new  day.  The  woman  move- 


Two  In  One  205 

ment  so-called,  the  awakening  of  the  feminine 
mind  to  an  active  interest  in  the  purification  and 
elevation  of  the  individual,  the  social,  the  do- 
mestic and  political  relations  and  conditions,  and 
the  prominence  which  the  feminine  quality — love 
— is  assuming  in  the  realm  of  moral  and  religious 
thought  and  activities,  all  plainly  point  to  the  re- 
enthronement  of  love  in  its  true  place  as  the  soul 
and  center  of  the  world's  life. 

Naturally,  in  this  awakening  of  woman  from 
her  long  sleep,  neither  she  nor  her  brother  man 
sees  very  clearly  what  it  all  means  or  whereunto 
it  tends,  and  mistakes  will  be  made.  The  pen- 
dulum in  its  swing  will  go  too  far  and  in  wrong 
directions,  but  the  gravitating  force  of  truth  will 
eventually  bring  and  hold  it  within  its  true 
limit. 

Woman  is  from  center  to  circumference — from 
the  inmost  spiritual  degree  of  her  being,  to  the 
outmost  natural  degree — different  in  quality  of 
thought  and  feeling  from  man,  and  by  reason  of 
this  difference  is  possessed  of  different  powers,  or 
rather  of  the  same  powers  modified  in  measure 
and  quality,  and  hence  adapted  to  separate,  if 
not  dissimilar  duties  in  the  domestic  and  social 
relations.  In  general  she  is  the  soul  and  inspira- 
tion, while  man  is  the  formulator  and  executor. 
She  is  the  hidden  spring  of  the  clock-work  of 
society,  while  man  is  the  face  and  external  indi- 


206  Two  In  One 

cator.  Her  world  is  within  the  home  shelter  in 
the  sphere  of  domesticity;  man's  is  in  the  outer 
world  of  business,  politics  and  finance.  She  sees 
truth  from  the  standpoint  of  good  or  love;  he 
sees  good  from  the  standpoint  of  truth.  She 
is  primarily  affectional  and  he  primarily  intel- 
lectual. She  can  go  out  and  with  a  measure  of  suc- 
cess compete  with  him  in  his  proper  realm,  just 
as  he  can  after  a  fashion  do  her  work;  but  they 
are  each  out  of  place  and  harmony  in  so  doing. 
She  can  keep  pace  with  him  in  some  exceptional 
instances  in  the  highest  reaches  of  his  intellectual 
efforts  and  processes,  and  can  generally  compel 
herself  to  pursue  successfully  the  same  studies 
and  the  same  work  in  life,  but  it  will  be  at  the 
expense  of  her  essentially  feminine  qualities.  She 
can  prepare  herself  for  teaching  the  higher 
ranges  of  scientific  and  philosophic  thought  and 
occupy  creditably  prominent  places  therein,  as  for 
example  the  position  of  University  Professor  of 
Mathematics  or  cognate  subjects;  but  she  is  not 
adapted  by  nature  for  such  work. 

A  sufficient  proof  of  this  is  seen  in  the  fact 
that  the  habits  acquired  by  a  few  years  of  such 
life  largely  disqualify  her  for  the  position  of 
home-keeper,  as  wife  and  mother,  the  place  above 
all  to  which  by  her  essential  constitution  and 
tastes  she  is  called. 

One  evil  incident  to  the  present  woman  move- 


Two  In  One  207 

ment,  resulting  from  her  becoming  economically 
independent  of  man,  is  already  manifest  in  a  no- 
table decrease  of  inspiration  and  aspiration 
among  young  men.  The  girls  are  coming  for- 
ward and  taking  the  places  of  the  boys  and 
placing  themselves  thereby  in  a  state  of  antag- 
onism such  as  drives  the  sexes  apart  in  their  true 
relations,  and  thus  the  feminine  inspiration  being 
withdrawn,  the  boys  are  left  to  drift  into  careless 
and  easy-going  lives. 

To  illustrate,  take  the  individual  man  or 
woman.  There  must  be  a  unity  between  the 
affectional  and  the  intellectual  elements  in  order 
to  practical  efficiency.  Without  the  inspiration 
of  the  love  element  an  individual  becomes  lacking 
in  energy  and  a  mere  thinking  machine,  so  far 
as  he  thinks  at  all;  and  without  the  control  and 
direction  of  the  intellect,  the  loves  run  riot  into 
all  sorts  of  disorders. 

But  society  is  one  as  the  individual  man  is  one, 
woman  being  the  love  or  inspirational  element, 
and  man  the  intellectual.  The  withdrawal  of 
woman  from  all  economic  dependence  on  man 
places  her  in  a  positive  attitude  toward  him,  and 
thus  divorces  the  masculine  and  the  feminine  ele- 
ments in  the  body  politic.  The  result  is  the  lack 
of  feminine  inspiration  of  the  masculine,  thereby 
leaving  man  comparatively  inert  and  aspiration- 
less,  and  woman  without  masculine  guidance. 


208  Two  In  One 

For  a  time  the  love  force  of  woman's  essential 
nature  will  speed  her  along  to  the  outstripping 
of  man,  and  the  exhilarating  newness  of  her  po- 
sition, together  with  old  habits  of  thought,  will 
uphold  her  moral  integrity ;  but  it  is  only  a  ques- 
tion of  time  when  her  loves,  lacking  the  mascu- 
line guidance  will  take  the  reins  in  their  hands 
and  drive  into  disorderly  ways. 

And  what  will  add  to  this  tendency  will  be 
abounding  celibacy.  The  marriage  state  will  be- 
come distasteful  and  unpopular  among  women. 
Already  signs  are  ominous  of  danger  here.  The 
rising  tide  of  bachelordom  among  women  looks 
in  that  direction.  A  woman  accustomed  to  that 
independence  which  accompanies  a  prosperous 
business  career,  forms  habits  and  tastes  averse 
to  the  dependence  of  her  position  in  the  mar- 
riage relation  with  its  accompanying  state  of 
motherhood  and  domesticity.  But  whatever  dis- 
courages marriages  leads  to  demoralization.  The 
question  bandied  around  in  the  newspapers  some 
time  ago  ''Is  marriage  a  failure ?"  is  nonsense. 
Can  any  design  or  institution  of  the  Almighty 
fail? 

The  sex  nature  is  all  impelling  and  will  have  its 
way.  The  marriage  relation  is  its  normal,  God 
ordained  expression.  This  is  the  law,  and  we 
violate  it  at  our  peril. 

If  the  principle  of  duality  of  man  and  woman 


Two  In  One  209 

in  spirit  is  true,  it  is  only  from  this  standpoint 
that  we  can  arrive  at  a  correct  knowledge  of  the 
true  relations  of  the  sexes.  Since  all  sexual  at- 
traction is  but  the  outward  manifestation  of  the 
principle  of  the  eternal  unity  of  man  and  woman, 
it  follows  that  all  true  marriages  of  persons  in 
this  world  must  have  for  its  motive,  object  and 
inspiration  towards  and  a  desire  for  the  reali- 
zation of  that  eternal  spiritual  oneness. 

Hence,  all  marriages  or  sex  relations,  for  con- 
venience, for  sense  gratification  or  with  any  other 
end  in  view  not  in  consonance  with  the  perma- 
nent spiritual  relation,  is  a  violation  of  this  fun- 
damental law  of  our  being.  The  one  and  only 
law  that  sanctifies  such  relations  is  that  the  par- 
ticipants therein  are  so  drawn  together  in  love 
affinity  as  to  feel  themselves  to  be  essentially  one 
and  having,  therefore,  an  instinctive  repugnance 
to  union  with  any  other.  This  is  true  marriage. 

Fidelity  to  this  law  of  monogamy  and  per- 
manency in  thought  and  act  is  obedience  to  the 
highest  and  most  sacred  principle  of  our  nature, 
and  is  attended  with  the  most  beneficent  results; 
while  from  infidelity  thereto,  flows  the  direst  of 
evils.  Such  infidelity  on  the  part  of  husband  or 
wife  is  a  breaking  of  the  bond  of  connection  be- 
tween them  and  constitutes  in  itself  divorce. 

And  surely  in  this  light,  the  compulsory  union 
of  a  man  and  a  woman  between  whom,  for  any 


210  Two  In  One 

cause,  there  is  not  nor  can  be  any  marriage  af- 
finity, is  a  great  wrong.  It  is  in  fact,  compul- 
sory adultery. 

The  interior  truth  on  this  subject  was  one,  if 
not  the  chief  of  the  many  things  which  Christ 
said,  "his  age  was  not  able  to  bear."  However, 
the  fact  that  this  truth  is  now  opening  to  us  im- 
plies that  the  time  has  come  for  its  utterance 
and  that  there  are  those  who  have  ears  to  hear. 

In  the  present  state  of  the  race  mere  external 
unions  with  their  resultant  evils  cannot  be 
avoided.  Purity  in  sexual  relations  can  no  more 
be  secured  by  legislative  enactments  than  can 
honesty  in  business  matters.  We  can  only  hedge 
around  these  relations  by  such  legal  enactments 
as  will  tend  to  mitigate  the  evils  arising  from 
them. 

But  as  the  race  advances  in  spiritual  percep- 
tion it  will  become  the  rule  instead  of  probably 
now  the  exception,  for  eternal  dual  individuali- 
ties to  gravitate  into  personal  unity  in  marriage 
and  then,  of  course,  divorces  and  sexual  immor- 
alities  will  cease. 

It  will  be  the  rule  for  a  man  and  a  woman  wha 
have  been  eternally  one  in  the  heavens  to  gravi- 
tate unerringly  to  each  other  in  this  world  and 
know  themselves  as  one. 

There  may  be  such  unions  now.  The  beauti- 
ful blending  of  two  lives  into  one  as  exhibited 


Two  In  One  211 

in  the  case  of  Browning,  the  poet,  and  his  wife, 
the  Fletchers  and  others  whose  biographies  have 
been  given  us,  indicate  a  union  deeper  than  any 
that  can  pertain  to  mere  sense,  and  are  pointers 
to  a  better  day  coming. 

In  the  meantime,  marriages  are  substitutionary 
of  the  eternal  spiritual  union.  Fidelity  therein 
is  the  foundation  of  the  spiritual.  It  is  fidelity 
to  the  supreme  law  of  being,  and  thus  funda- 
mental to  all  that  is  good,  true  or  noble  in  hu- 
manity. 

Since  the  human  body  is  only  the  visible  man- 
ifestation of  the  mental  man,  in  all  his  functions, 
we  should  expect  spiritual  conjugality,  if  true, 
to  be  somehow  ultimated  therein.  Granting  that 
sex  is  primarily  spiritual,  the  complete  individual 
being  constituted  of  a  love  and  a  truth  form  in 
eternal  unity  in  God,  and  further  granting  that 
the  phenomenal  is  the  exfiguration  on  the  sense 
plane  of  the  spiritual,  it  follows  that  the  physical 
organism  is  an  outward  symbol  of  such  spiritual 
relation. 

Accordingly  we  find  a  duality  running  through 
the  entire  corporeal  structure.  First,  the  brain 
is  divided  into  two  hemispheres  and  is  composed 
of  two  substances,  a  grey  or  vesicular  and  a  white 
or  fibrous  matter,  all  nervous  impulses  originat- 
ing in  the  former  and  conducted  by  the  latter. 
Again,  the  organs  throughout  the  body  run  in 


212  Two  In  One 

pairs,  as  heart  and  lungs,  liver  and  kidneys,  right 
and  left,  hand  and  foot,  and  so.  All  this  is  the 
visual  expression  of  the  two  mental  elements  of 
affection  and  intellect  or  love  and  truth,  not  only 
in  the  individual  man  or  woman,  but  in  the 
twain  made  one. 

The  brain  is  further  dualized  in  two  masses 
whose  functions  are  distinct  from  each  other, 
viz.:  the  cerebrum  or  the  large  front  and  top 
brain,  and  the  cerebellum.  The  latter  is  situ- 
ated back  and  beneath  the  former  and  is  about 
one-eighth  its  volume.  The  functions  of  the 
cerebellum  have  not  been  hitherto  fully  under- 
stood, but  from  what  we  have  learned  of  its 
functions,  taken  together  with  its  relative  posi- 
tion in  the  bodily  organism,  it  would  seem  to  oc- 
cupy the  same  relation  to  the  entire  body  that  the 
conjugal  faculty  does  to  the  mental  man. 

It  should  be  noted  that  there  are  three  nervous 
systems  corresponding  to  the  three  mental  de- 
grees of  spirit,  soul,  and  body.  First,  there  is 
the  cerebro-spinal  system,  which  is  the  organ  of 
the  outer  voluntary  life,  composed  of  the  cere- 
brum, the  nerves  of  special  sense,  sight,  hearing, 
etc.,  and  the  motor  and  sensory  nerves  which  may 
be  said  to  be  an  extension  of  the  cerebrum 
throughout  the  body.  Its  fibers  passing  down 
through  the  cerebellum  are  gathered  into  a  bundle 
constituting  the  spinal  cord,  and  radiating  thence 


Two  In  One  213 

ramify  every  minutest    portion    of    the    bodily 
structure. 

Second,  along  within  and  on  each  side  of  the 
spinal  column,  there  extends  a  chain  of  nervous 
knots  or  ganglia  from  which  proceed  nervous 
cords  penetrating  every  organ  and  tissue,  and  so 
interlacing  as  to  form  a  plexus  or  net  work  within 
and  around  every  organ.  This  is  the  sympa- 
thetic system  and  has  been  termed  the  brain  of 
the  vital  economy.  Its  function  is  to  vivify  and 
preside  over  all  the  vital  forces.  It  is  the  organ 
of  the  coul  degree  of  mentality  or  the  subjective 
mind,  even  as  the  cerebro-spinal  system  is  the 
organ  of  the  objective  mind. 

Third,  within  these  two  systems  there  is  a  series 
of  glandular  bodies  constituting  a  complete  au- 
tonomy called  the  adrenal  system.  Its  func- 
tions have  only  latterly  become  understood.  It 
is  composed  of  a  small  body  situated  at  the  base 
of  the  brain  termed  the  pituary  gland,  together 
with  the  thyroid  gland,  the  spleen  and  pancreas 
and  the  suprarenal  capsules.  It  has  been  ascer- 
tained that  the  office  of  this  system  is  primarily  to 
vitalize  the  sympathetic  system  and  hence  is  the 
organ  of  life's  initiament  in  the  body.  Its  men- 
tal correspondence  is,  of  course,  that  of  the  in- 
most man  of  the  spirit. 

Now,  again,  as  to  the  function  of  the  cerebel- 
lum. Being  situated  at  the  base  of  the  larger 


214  Two  In  One 

brain  and  at  the  head  of  the  spinal  column,  it  re- 
ceives the  nerve  fibres  from  the  cerebrum,  cor- 
relates them  in  all  bodily  activities,  and  what  is 
remarkable,  transposes  the  fibers  of  each  brain 
hemisphere  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  body,  so 
that  any  injury  of  either  hemisphere  reports  its 
effects  through  the  nerve  fibres  extending  there- 
from to  the  opposite  side  of  the  body.  The  cere- 
bellum is  also  intimately  connected,  by  nerve 
fibers,  to  both  the  adrenal  and  the  sympathetic 
systems. 

It  is  a  very  significant  fact  bearing  on  the  spir- 
itual correspondence  of  the  cerebellum  that  the 
physical  organ  of  sex  is  situated  therein. 

These  considerations  taken  together  with  cer- 
tain other  anatomical  facts  well  established  jus- 
tify the  inference  that,  beyond  a  doubt,  the  rela- 
tion of  the  cerebellum  to  the  rest  of  the  bodily 
organism  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  conjugal  fac- 
ulty to  the  spiritual  man.  Just  as  the  cerebel- 
lum is  situated  at  the  meeting  point  of  the  three 
nervous  system  and  forms  the  nexus  or  medium  of 
connection  between  them,  and  is  thereby  the 
correllator  of  their  activities,  so  the  faculty  of 
spiritual  conjugality  is  the  center  and  determin- 
ing factor  in  all  loves,  emotions,  and  mental 
activities.  In  the  normal  action  of  this  faculty 
are  grounded  all  genuine  manhood  and  woman- 


Two  In  One  215 

hood  and  all  true  and  wholesome  social  relations 
and  conditions. 

Love  is  life,  and  spiritual  conjugality  is  the 
prime  fountain,  in  God,  whence  all  life  flows. 

All  this  accords  with  revelation  as  has  been 
already  indicated. 

The  Biblical  representations  of  man's  union  to 
God  as  a  marriage  is  more  than  a  figure  of 
speech.  That  angelic  announcement  to  John  on 
the  isle  of  Patmos,  "The  marriage  of  the  Lamb 
is  come,  and  the  bride  hath  made  herself  ready, " 
with  other  Scriptures  of  like  import,  have  a  pro- 
found significance  little  dreamed  of  by  material- 
istic thought. 

If  life  is  love,  and  if  bodily  conditions  of 
health  and  disease  are  only  the  external  regis- 
tering of  mental  states,  what  shall  we  say  of  the 
importance  to  woman,  whose  very  life  is  love 
in  external  embodiment,  of  a  normal  state  and  an 
unobstructed  outflow  of  her  affections?  Could 
we  get  at  the  root  of  their  maladies,  we  would 
find  that  a  very  large  percentage  of  the  ills  for 
which  women  daily  throng  the  offices  of  physi- 
cians arise  from  some  error  here.  Drugs  are 
powerless  to  reach  the  seat  of  the  trouble.  The 
remedy  must  be  spiritual. 

The  practical  inference  from  all  this  is  that 
the  supreme  effort  of  woman,  through  whatever 
means  at  her  command,  should  be  directed  to  the 


216  Two  In  One 

purifying  of  this  prime  fountain.  Without  this, 
nothing  else  is  worth  while.  While  strenuously 
guarding  against  any  lowering  of  the  hitherto 
high  standard  of  purity  she  has  held  for  herself, 
she  should  demand  of  man  conformity  to  the  same 
standard.  Her  club  associations  for  self-culture 
in  the  study  of  literature,  and  her  efforts  for 
social  and  civic  betterment,  etc.,  while  good  and 
helpful,  are  really  only  training  schools  in  co- 
operation and  thus  a  making  ready  for  this  more 
vital  work  of  rectifying  sex  relations. 

Woman  being  the  soul  of  society,  her  collect- 
ive will  is  the  inspiration  and  arbiter  of  all  social 
conditions.  She  has  only  to  learn  to  know  what 
ought  to  be  and,  therefore,  what  she  wants 
should  be,  and  then  unitedly  make  her  demands, 
and  it  will  be. 


Remark:  In  the  manuscript  before  me,  several 
additional  lectures  here  intervene  dealing  with 
our  race  history,  in  which  the  race  is  repre- 
sented as  evolving  outwardly  from  its  original 
subjective  mental  state  in  the  Adamic  people  to 
an  extreme  external  state  of  sense-consciousness 
and  mental  perception,  at  the  advent  of  Christ, 
like  unto  the  passage  of  a  planet  in  its  orbit  from 
its  perihelion  to  its  aphelion  distance  from  the 
sun. 

At  Christ's  coming,  termed  in  the  Scriptures, 


Two  In  One  217 

the  fullness  of  time,  the  race  evolution  is  repre- 
sented as  having  reached  the  farthest  point  out- 
ward in  its  orbit,  and  thence  under  the  new  life- 
impulse  received  from  the  risen  Redeemer,  be- 
ginning its  return  to  its  primal  consciousness  of 
nearness  to  the  Divine  Sun.  Not,  however,  to 
resume  its  original  mental  and  spiritual  status. 
It  began  its  career  as  an  inexperienced  babe  in  the 
negative  innocence  of  ignorance  as  respects  the 
natural  powers  or  selfhood;  it  returns,  freighted 
with  its  ages  of  experience  and  resultant  charac- 
ter, as  a  full  developed  personality  in  the  posi- 
tive innocence  of  matured  wisdom. 

In  other  words,  the  history  of  our  humanity  is 
sketched  from  the  view-point  of  a  Divine  incar- 
nation in  man  through  the  Christ,  as  the  Divinely 
predetermined  and  directed  end  and  object  of  our 
race-existence  and  development. 

But  by  reason  of  the  limits  prescribed  for  the 
present  volume  these  lectures  are  omitted,  and 
so  we  bid  adieu  to  Mr.  Calvin  and  the  other 
friends,  and  confine  ourselves  for  the  rest,  to  the 
further  experiences  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morven. 


CHAPTER     XII. 

During  the  period  of  our  weekly  meetings,  Mrs. 
Morven  seemed  to  dwell  in  a  sphere  of  abstrac- 
tion. Much  of  the  time  she  spent  in  her  room 
in  a  reclining  posture,  wrapped  in  meditation  so 
profound  as  to  render  her  oblivious  to  the  outer 
world,  occasionally  rising  and  seizing  her  pen  to 
record  the  thoughts  coursing  through  her  brain. 

After  each  meeting,  she  would  perhaps  ask  a 
fuller  statement  of  certain  points ;  but  beyond  this- 
we  talked  little  of  the  subjects  under  considera- 
tion. 

I  became  anxious  to  learn  the  nature  of  her  med- 
itations and  the  results. 

Having  returned  to  our  rooms  after  the  final 
meeting,  sitting  down  by  me  she  took  my  hand 
in  hers,  and  looking  at  me  earnestly,  said,  "  Rob- 
ert, my  love,  I  must  talk  with  you  as  a  means  of 
relief  from  the  pressure  of  thought  and  feeling. 
I  have  followed  you  in  your  broad  outline  sketch- 
es, and  as  best  I  could,  have  sought  to  fill  in  the 
details. 

In  listening  to  you,  I  have  constantly  had  the 
strange  feeling  that  it  was  really  myself  speak- 
ing in  and  through  you.  Your  utterances  ap- 
peared as  merely  the  formulation  of  what  I  had 


Two  In  One  219 

always  known.  It  was,  as  though  the  inner- 
most recesses  of  my  being  had  been  thrown  open, 
and  my  thought-self  were  pouring  forth  its  hidden 
treasures. 

Or,  again,  the  seeming  has  been  as  if  you  were 
engaged  in  erecting  a  house  for  me,  planned  by 
myself,  each  stone  of  which  was  a  living  part  of 
myself;  and  yet  as  if  the  completed  structure 
were  identical  with  you — your  very  self  becom- 
ing the  house  of  my  habitation." 

* '  This  is  the  legitimate  expression  in  you  of 
our  essential  Spiritual  unity,  I  replied.  Now  a 
matter  of  business.  I  have  purchased  Mr. 
Clark's  ranch,  near  my  mines,  where  Roberta  and 
I  spent  our  years  in  the  mountains.  All  these 
material  things  are  ours — not  mine.  My  busi- 
ness calls  me  hence,  for  a  time.  This  call  is  to 
you  also  is  it  not?*' 

"Of  course,  Robert,  and  I  am  delighted  at  the 
prospect.  Is  it  not  strange  how  our  external 
lives  are  ordered?  Gradually,  from  the  ends  of 
the  earth,  we  are  drawn  together.  Now,  I  in- 
terpret our  making  our  home  in  a  mountain  to 
symbolize  our  unity  and  joint  ascent  into  a  higher 
range  of  spiritual  experience. " 

"Doubtless  you  are  correct,  my  Dear.  The 
mental  and  spiritual  states  are  a  causal  force  tend- 
ing ever  to  seek  or  produce  harmonious  environ- 
ment. In  the  spiritual  spheres  the  environments 


220  Two  In  One 

of  landscape,  of  sea,  mountain  and  plain — the 
dwellings  and  clothing  of  the  inhabitants  and 
other  general  features  of  their  habitations,  are  ex 
exact  correspondential  symbols  of  their  fixed 
character ;  whilst  the  evanescent  phenomena,  such 
as  the  flowers  that  spring  up  around  their  vision 
are  expressive  of  the  passing  thought  of  the  be- 
holder. 

All  the  phenomenal  world,  in  form,  color  and 
feature,  is  the  outbirthing  of  mental  states  and 
thereby  becomes  an  open  book  in  which  the 
mutual  relations  with  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of 
all  and  each  are  momentarily  recorded  for  their 
delighted  reading.  In  general,  the  same  is  true 
of  the  physical  realm.  Taking  the  entire  world 
in  its  complex  relations  and  conditions,  it  is  the 
exact  representation  of  the  mental  states  of  its 
immediate  inhabitants  in  connection  with  that  of 
the  environing  Spiritual  Sphere  with  which  its 
life  is  connected.  But  the  natural  is  compara- 
tively inert  and  slow  of  change  and  movement, 
corresponding  to  the  fixedness  of  materialistic 
sense  thought. 

There  is,  however,  a  constant  conatus  tending 
to  mold  external  conditions  into  harmony  with 
each  one's  changing  states.  The  workings  of  this 
law  are  seen  in  such  things  as  the  associations, 
the  homes  and  the  environments  of  people,  all  of 
which  are  expressive  of  their  character.  And 


Two  In  One  221 

could  we  read  it,  we  would  in  the  lifetime  fixed- 
ness in  one  place  of  some,  and  the  flitting  from 
place  to  place  of  others,  with  all  the  variety  of 
changing  relations,  find  an  outward  expression  of 
mental  states. 

We  make  a  change  of  residence  from  the  north 
to  the  South,  from  East  to  West,  from  city  to 
country,  from  mountain  or  plain  to  oceanside, — 
all  such  things  have  a  mental  significance.  The 
prime  cause  of  these  changes  is  to  be  found  in  a 
mental  change  seeking  corresponding  physical  en- 
vironment. 

On  this  general  principle,  I  think  we  may  inter- 
pret our  changes  of  place  and  condition.  Through 
all  the  years  preceding  our  union,  a  spiritual  at- 
traction has  been  drawing  us  toward  each  other; 
and  each  phase  of  our  lives  has  been  for  the  time 
an  outward  expression  of  our  mental  states  in 
relation  to  each  other  and  to  humanity.  As  our 
development  has  advanced  our  outer  states  have 
become  more  and  more  assimilated  and  all  un- 
consciously to  ourselves  the  lines  of  our  external 
lives  were  proportionally  approximating  till  final- 
ly they  met  and  blended  into  one." 

Again,  one  evening,  before  a  cozy  fire  in  our 
mountain  home,  my  wife  nestled  down  by  me  and 
in  a  low  voice  and  mysterious  manner  said,  "  Rob- 
ert, there  are  certain  experiences  in  my  life  that  I 
have  held  too  sacred  for  utterance  in  common 
speech,  and  I  could  not  bring  myself  to  speak  of 


222  Two  In  One 

them  even  to  you.  But  now  I  feel  that  the  time 
has  come  for  at  least  a  partial  unsealing  of  my 
lips. 

My  secret  is,  that  from  my  earliest  recollection 
I  have,  at  times,  had  open  vision,  seeing  things 
and  holding  communion  with  people  invisible  to 
the  natural  eye. 

In  my  childhood,  I  saw  and  familiarly  played 
with  children  invisible  to  all  but  myself,  and  had 
visions  of  beautiful  gardens  and  lovely  people 
which  were  as  real  to  me  as  anything  seen  with 
ordinary  sight.  My  parents  reproved  me  and 
forbade  my  speaking  of  these  experiences,  and  so 
I  learned  to  close  myself  against  them.  They 
had  comparatively  ceased  for  a  number  of  years 
previous  to  your  conversion.  On  that  occasion, 
'whether,  (as  the  Apostle  puts  it),  'in  the  body 
or  out  of  the  body,  God  knoweth,'  I  rose  above 
the  sense  world  and  stood  alone  with  you  in  the 
beatific  presence  of  our  Heavenly  Father.  In 
that  supernal  light  our  souls  were  blended  as  one 
— one  life —  one  love — one  thought — one  will. 

The  sense  world  reasserted  its  sway ;  the  vision 
passed,  but  its  impression  remained.  This  ex- 
perience was  only  the  first  of  a  series  of  visions 
connecting  me  with  you  during  the  entire  period 
of  our  separation.  By  comparing  dates,  I  find 
that  at  critical  points  of  your  life  as  you  have 
recounted  them  to  me,  I  was  by  vision  brought 
into  rapport  with  you.  One  thing,  however, 


Two  In  One  223 

puzzles  me  about  these  experiences.  I  always 
seemed  to  be  sent  as  your  guide,  or  helper.  Per« 
haps  this  has  been  one  reason  for  my  hesitation 
to  tell  you  of  them.  For  instance,  I  once  dreamed 
of  having  been  sent,  by  the  Lord,  to  recall  you 
from  the  spirit  world,  whither  you  had  previously 
departed.  In  my  dream,  it  seemed  perfectly 
natural  for  me  to  go  on  this  strange  mission. 
Addressing  myself  to  the  task,  I  was  by  unseen 
hands  lifted  and  borne  along,  and  set  down  at 
your  side  in  a  desolate  region  of  semi-darkness. 
Having  announced  to  you  that  you  should  return 
to  earth,  I  awoke.  For  the  time  I  gave  the 
dream  no  thought,  supposing  it  to  have  been 
merely  the  vagary  of  disturbed  sleep.  But  when 
you  related  your  trance-experience,  which,  on 
examination,  I  found  to  have  been  synchronous 
with  my  dream,  I  concluded  that  there  was  more 
in  the  matter  than  mere  coincidence. 

Again,  about  the  time  you  went  to  the  moun- 
tains and  met  Professor  N.,  I  in  vision  not  only 
saw  you  go,  but  seemed  to  accompany  you,  and 
to  be  the  means  of  bringing  you  and  him  together. 

Then,  at  the  time  of  your  spiritualistic  expe- 
rience, I  found  you  in  a  dark,  boggy  wood,  and 
piloted  you  out  into  the  highway. 

Once  more,  about  the  time  you  left  for  Cali- 
fornia, I  rescued  you  from  drowning. 

Finally,  when  we  both  arrived    in    California 


224  Two  In  One 

and  you  were  free  from  your  troubles,  I  saw  you 
in  your  mountain  home  and  rejoiced  with  you. 

These  things  I  did  not  understand,  but,  like 
Mary,  laid  them  up  in  my  heart. 

Then,  when  I  met  you  in  Oakland,  I  was  again 
transported  in  the  spirit  and  saw  you  as  my  own. 
You  will  not  wonder,  therefore,  that  when  I  heard 
from  your  lips  the  narrative  of  your  life,  the 
striking  ocincidence  between  my  visitations  and 
your  experiences  filled  me  with  awe.  I  felt  like 
saying,  with  Jacob  of  old,  "God  is  in  this  place 
and  I  knew  it  not." 

My  intromissions  into  spiritual  sight  have  also 
frequently  brought  me  face  to  face  with  inhabi- 
tants of  the  spirit  world.  Several  times  I  have 
held  communion  with  my  father  and  mother,  and 
once  with  your  mother.  However  strange  this 
may  all  seem  to  you,  it  has  become  to  me  a  com- 
monplace occurrence  almost  as  little  to  be  noted  as 
association  with  people  of  the  natural  world." 

"My  dear,"  I  exclaimed,  there  is  nothing  sur- 
prising in  the  fact  of  your  open  relations  to  the 
unseen  world.  That  is  the  normal  state  of  hu- 
manity in  the  higher  ranges  of  development.  In 
the  latter  days,  we  are  told,  God  will  pour  out 
his  spirit  upon  all  flesh  and  the  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  men  shall  prophesy,  young  men  shall  see 
visions,  and  old  men  shall  dream  dreams.  Your 
experience  is  but  the  partial  fulfillment  in  your 
case  of  that  prophecy." 


Two  In  One  225 

"Now,"  she  continued,  "I  am  going  to  speak 
of  a  fact  that  will  especially  please  if  not  sur- 
prise you.  When  you  first  spoke  to  me  of  Pro- 
fessor N.  and  of  his  death,  a  gentleman  appeared 
standing  at  your  right  hand,  and  bowing  to  me 
said,  "I  am  Professor  N."  My  emotions  were 
such  that  I  almost  cried  out.  But  he  forbade 
my  speaking  of  it,  saying  that  the  time  had  not 
come  for  me  to  make  these  disclosures. 

And  further,  this  same  gentleman  has  been  in- 
timately associated  with  you  in  all  your  talks. 
In  fact,  he  stands  by  you  at  this  moment,  and 
smilingly  asks  to  be  recognized. ' ' 

"I  am  sure  that  if  the  gentleman  is  really  my 
old  friend  and  teacher,  Professor  N.,  there  is 
nothing  that  could  give  me  more  joy  than  a 
realization  of  his  presence.  Will  you  describe 
him  to  me?" 

"He  says  that  he  has  grown  more  youthful  in 
appearance  than  when  you  saw  him  in  the  flesh, 
but  for  the  sake  of  recollection  he  will  appear 
as  he  then  was  seen  by  you.  He  seems  to  be  a 
man  of  medium  height,  with  short,  full  auburn 
beard,  clear  blue  eyes,  set  rather  far  apart,  high 
square  forehead,  light  hair  worn  somewhat  long, 
full  rounded  chin  and  Grecian  nose.  His  head 
is  high  and  broad  across  and  back  of  the  tem- 
ples, and  sets  squarely  upon  broad  shoulders.  His 
<jhest  is  full,  and  he  seems  to  be  of  rather  mus- 
cular build.  I  should  suppose  he  would  weigh 


226  Two  In  One 

one  hundred  and  seventy  pounds.  He  wears  a 
suit  of  gray  and  his  coat  is  cut  in  Prince  Albert 
style.  His  hat  is  low,  of  light  color  and  broad 
brim." 

"Well,  that  description  fits  Professor  N.  We 
will  take  it  for  granted  that  it  is  he.  I  should 
like  to  talk  to  him." 

"The  gentleman  says  he  also  wishes  to  talk  to 
you." 

"First,  my  dear  friend,"  I  said,  "I  should  like 
to  have  you  give  me  some  acount  of  yourself 
since,  in  the  providence  of  God,  you  were  called 
away  from  earth  life." 

"Let  me  correct  your  expression,"  he  replied. 
I  haven't  been  called  away  from  participation  in 
earth  life,  if  that  is  what  you  mean.  For  you 
see  here  I  am,  and  have  been,  as  your  wife  testi- 
fies, for  some  time  past,  most  decidedly  co-oper- 
ating in  the  affairs  of  this  world.  You  would 
be  surprised  to  learn  to  what  an  extent  I  have 
been  privileged  and  empowered  to  aid  you  in  your 
investigations. ' ' 

"I  am  overwhelmed  with  the  thought,"  I  ex~ 
claimed. 

"Well,  he  continued,  "to  answer  your  question: 
on  the  sinking  of  our  ship  I  experienced  a  smoth- 
ering sensation  for  a  few  moments,  which  was 
followed  by  a  feeling  of  exhilaration.  This  con- 
tinued until  I  felt  myself  released  from  my  body 
and  carried  seemingly  quite  a  distance,  I  know 


Two  In  One  227 

not  how  far.  I  took  no  note  of  time.  With  my 
eyes  closed,  I  lay  in  a  state  of  ecstatic  content, 
free  from  all  care  and  anxiety.  Eventually, 
however,  my  motion  stopped;  and  for  a  time  I 
quietly  reposed.  Then  I  felt  a  soft  touch  as  of 
some  kindly  hand  removing  from  my  right  eye 
a  film,  then  followed  the  same  experience  with  the 
left  eye.  A  mild  light  dawned  upon  me;  I 
opened  my  eyes  and  saw. 

Th?re  stood  before  me  one  whose  countenance 
was  familiar.  I  seemed  to  know  him  well.  He 
smiled,  and  reaching  forth  his  hand  raised  me  to 
my  feet.  I  then  found  myself  in  the  presence  of 
three  others,  all  of  whom  were  as  old  acquaint- 
ances, but  whose  names  I  was  for  the  moment 
unable  to  recall. 

My  surroundings  were  much  the  same  as  those 
to  which  I  had  been  accustomed;  so,  that  at  first, 
I  was  under  the  impression  that  in  some  mysteri- 
ous way  I  had  been  carried  back  to  my  old  home. 
But  gradually  I  was  led  to  the  knowledge  that 
I  was  now  in  the  spirit  realm,  and  no  longer  an 
inhabitant  of  the  natural  world. 

My  attendants  proved  to  be  my  guardian 
angels.  I  was  not  unprepared  for  this  revela- 
tion, for  I  had  read  and  believed  Swedenborg's 
statement  about  the  attendance  upon  every  one 
during  his  natural  existence  and  for  a  time  after 
his  advent  into  the  spirit-world,  of  four  angels — 
tv70  of  whom  are  principled  in  the  truth  and  two 


228  Two  In  One 

in  the  good — whom  he  terms  respectively  spiritual 
and  celestial  angels. 

One  of  each  class  came  forward,  the  spiritual 
angel  grasping  me  by  the  left  hand,  the  celestial 
angel,  by  the  right  hand;  the  former,  kissing  me 
on  the  left  cheek,  said,  "Welcome,  brother,  enter 
thou  into  thy  inheritance  of  heavenly  knowl- 
edge. ' '  The  other,  kissing  me  on  the  Tight  cheek, 
repeated,  "Welcome,  brother,  enter  thou  into  the 
joys  of  fraternal  love."  Then  the  other  two 
saluted  me  similarly,  the  one  saying,  "Enter  thou 
into  the  treasures  of  heavenly  wisdom ; ' '  the  other 
"Enter  thou  into  the  ineffable  delights  of  Divine 
love."  Their  touch  thrilled  me  with  a  bound- 
ing joyous  love,  and  an  aspiration  for  goodness 
and  truth  such  as  my  imagination  had  never,  in 
earthly  life,  conceived. 

"Now,  my  brother,"  continued  the  angel  of 
wisdom,  "you  need  but  little  further  instruction 
from  us.  It  has  been  our  delight  to  attend  you 
thus  far.  You  will  have  other  guides  and  in- 
structors as  you  need  them.  You  know  that  you 
are  now  in  the  spirit  world — the  ante-chamber  to 
your  future  abode.  You  are  aware  that  your 
experiences  now  for  a  time  will  be  simply  a  pro- 
gressive unfolding  of  your  central  and  innermost 
love  and  the  resultant  laying  aside  of  all  mental 
and  affectional  states  not  in  harmony  therewith. 
The  Divine  light  shining  into  your  heart  will  lay 
bare  to  your  perception  whatever  is  discordant 


Two  In  One  229 

with  your  prime  love,  and  you  will  naturally 
throw  it  off  as  an  unfitting  garment.  You  will 
gradually  become,  in  every  fibre  of  your  being, 
attuned  to  this  keynote.  This  is  the  judgment 
world,  where  the  book  of  each  man's  life  is 
opened  and  his  character  revealed,  fulfilling 
Christ's  words,  'There  is  nothing  hid  that  shall 
not  be  revealed."  I  need  not  say  to  you  that 
you  have  naught  to  fear,  nor  need  I  point  you  to 
the  Divine  Source  of  all  good.  You  have  only 
to  look  to  Him  and  ask,  and  your  wants,  what- 
ever they  may  be,  will  be  supplied.  Your  only 
concern  as  a  neophyte  is  to  follow  your  inclina- 
tions"  And  in  a  moment,  I  was  alone. 

Naturally,  the  desire  arose  to  learn  something 
of  my  whereabouts  and  environments,  and  with 
the  desire  came  its  fulfillment.  A  gentleman  ap- 
proached me  and  said,  "I  am  at  your  service. 
Come  with  me,  and  you  will  learn  what  you  wish 
to  know." 

I  took  a  step  in  walking,  but  found  myself,  with 
the  effort  of  the  will,  lifted  up  and  borne  along. 
My  guide,  with  a  pleasant  smile,  said,  "You  will 
find  your  means  of  locomotion  much  easier  and 
more  rapid  here  than  in  the  natural  world.  If 
you  wish  to  see  anyone  or  to  go  to  another  place, 
however  distant,  you  have  only  to  fix  your  mind 
on  the  person  or  place,  and  at  once  you  will  find 
yourself  being  transported  thither  with  a  speed 
corresponding  to  the  intensity  of  your  desire.  And 


230  Two  In  One 

when  you  have  thus  been  brought  face  to  face 
with  any  one  and  the  purpose  of  your  meeting 
has  been  accomplished,  you  will  at  once  recede 
from  each  other's  presence  and  return  to  your 
own  place.'* 

"This  accounts  for  the  sudden  disappearance 
of  my  guardian  angels  just  before  I  met  you,"  I 
replied. 

We  soon  approached  a  city,  which  my  guide 
called  Centropolis.  It  was  a  city  of  schools  and 
colleges  of  learning.  It  was  the  metropolis  of 
that  portion  of  the  spirit  realm,  and  the  entrepot 
for  all  new  comers.  Here  were  gathered  all 
classes  and  conditions  of  humanity,  from  the 
angel  to  the  devil.  Here  every  one  readily  at- 
tained the  knowledge  adapted  to  his  character 
and  condition,  and  was  started  on  his  way  to  the 
region  for  which  he  was  fitted.  Radiating  in  all 
directions,  were  avenues  leading  all  to  their  des- 
tinations, whether  to  the  abodes  of  good  or  of 
evil.  The  central  love  of  each  pointed,  as  the 
needle  to  the  magnet,  the  direction  he  should  take 
and  drew  him  thither.  And  each  one  found 
along  his  route  just  those  aids  that  were  neces- 
sary to  enable  him  to  enter  into  the  fullness  of 
his  prime  love,  and  to  lay  aside  all  things  not 
in  harmony  therewith. 

I  will  not  now  detain  you  by  details  of  my  ex- 
perience in  Centropolis.  Suffice  it  that  ere  long 
an  overwhelming  desire  for  the  Divine  presence 


Two  In  One  231 

possessed  me.  The  words  of  the  Psalmist  ex- 
pressed my  feeling,  "As  the  hart  panteth  after 
the  water  brooks,  so  panteth  my  soul  after  thee, 

0  God.      My  soul  thirsteth  for  God,  yea,  for  the 
living  God.      When  shall  I  come  and  appear  be- 
fore God?" 

Far  to  the  East,  on  a  mountain  top,  glistened 
the  towers  and  minarets  of  a  city  toward  which 

1  was  impelled  to  travel.      But,  at  first,  my  way 
was  not  clear.      Most  avenues  leading  from  Cen- 
tropolis  were  broad  and  spacious;  but  the  gate 
was  straight  and  the  way  narrow  that  led  out  to 
the  city  of  my  quest.       However,    that    way  I 
took,  with  a  few  others  of  like  mind.      My  de- 
sire soon  brought  me  hither,  and  I  was  met  at 
the  gate  with  cheers  and  paeons  of  rejoicing  of 
friends  who  had  preceded    me — mother,    father, 
and  other  loved  ones.      It  seems  that  the  news  of 
my  coming  had  preceded  me. 

But  one  there  was  who  met  me,  dearer  than  all 
others. 

In  my  youth,  the  Lord  had  blessed  me  with  the 
love  of  a  dear  one ;  but  on  the  eve  of  our  intended 
marriage  she  was  taken  from  me.  She  died 
asking  me  to  meet  her  in  the  beyond.  All  my 
soul's  love,  all  my  capacity  to  love  as  a  husband, 
went  with  her.  I  never  married.  As  time 
passed  and  I  learned  the  truth  of  the  spiritual 
unity  of  two  souls  in  God,  I  felt  surely  my  de- 
parted Eunice  was  my  eternal  counterpart.  With 


232  Two  In  One 

intense  eagerness,  I  sought  her  beloved  face 
among  my  welcoming  friends.  I  soon  beheld  her 
but  a  few  feet  from  me — and  locked  in  each 
other's  arms,  the  heavens  opened  and  I  came  face 
to  face  with  God.  I  need  not  describe  to  you 
the  experience. 

This  city  is  the  ante-room  of  the  New  Heavens. 
Here  she  had  preceded  me,  and  waited  my  com- 
ing. Now,  as  two-in-one — one  angel — we  as- 
sumed spiritual  bodies  corresponding  to  our  spir- 
itual state,  and  thus  entered  the  New  Jerusalem, 
or  the  New  Heavens,  our  final  home.  This  is  the 
resurrection  of  which  the  Lord  speaks,  and  of 
which  the  Apostle  treats  in  1st  Corinthians. " 

"My  dear,  dear  friend,  how  is  this?"  I  cried. 
' '  The  revelations  of  the  last  hour  overwhelm  me ! 
First,  I  learn  that  my  wife — my  counterpartal 
self — looks  beyond  me  into  realms  of  being  invis- 
ible to  me.  Then  comes  my  dearest  and  best  of 
friends  from  the  unseen  world,  and  through  her, 
talks  familiarly  to  me  of  his  blessed  experiences; 
whilst  I,  sightless  and  deaf,  can  only  sit  and  ac- 
cept these  wonderful  things  at  second  hand." 

' '  Perhaps  if  you  will  think  you  can  answer  your 
own  query,"  replied  Professor  N. 

"It  dawns  upon  me  that  my  limitations  arise 
from  my  old  egotism  and  personal  self-sufficiency 
interposed  between  me  and  the  light.  I  had  fondly 
hoped  it  was  dead." 

"In  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  it  is  doubtlesi 


Two  In  One  233 

true  that  your  love  nature  has  not  kept  pace  with 
your  intellect.  In  your  intense  desire  to  know 
the  truth,  your  intellect  has  been  raised  into  the 
light  of  heaven,  whilst  the  love  capacity  has  been 
comparatively  dwarfed.  Thus  in  spite  of  your 
clear  intellectual  perception  of  God  as  the  only 
good,  your  entire  conscious  life  has  been  tinctured 
with  the  falsity  of  self-derived  intelligence.  And 
now  that  you  have  come  to  realize  the  spiritual 
love  of  yourself  as  personalized  in  your  wife, 
your  perception  of  her  in  this  relation  is  yet 
more  largely  intellectual  than  affectional.  You 
are  yet  on  the  outside  of  the  temple  of  truth. 

Your  wife,  on  the  other  hand,  not  having  your 
native  egotism  to  contend  with,  and  having  in- 
herited into  peculiarly  propitious  conditions,  has 
in  God's  providence  been  your  invisible  helper 
all  through  life,  and  now  in  the  fullness  of  her 
love  development  receives  and  enters  into  the 
body  of  your  truth.  Her  loves  have  become 
united  in  marriage  to  your  truth.  She  has  en- 
tered into  the  marriage  feast;  but  you  stand 
without.  She  feels  that  somewhat  is  wrong,  but 
she  has  not  understood  just  where  or  what  it  is. 
Am  I  not  right,  madam  1" 

Mrs.  Morven  nodded  assent. 

"To  use  your  term,  Professor,  I  intellectually 
perceive  that  you  are  correct.  ButI  am  not 
consciously  withholding  myself.  I  cannot  will 
myself  into  love.  By  will,  one  *  cannot  make  one 


234  Two  In  One 

hair  white  or  black  or  add  one  cubit  to  his  stat- 
ure/ " 

"No,  but  he  can  will  to  stand  where  God  has 
placed  him,  and  refusing  to  recognize  any  limita- 
tions arising  out  of  personal  selfhood,  allow  God 
to  work  His  will  with  and  in  him.  In  this  way 
a  man  can  control  his  affections  and  love  or  hate 
at  will.  In  a  sense  he  can  compel  himself  to 
love. 

Let  us  consider  for  a  moment  your  condition 
and  privileges  as  you  intellectually  perceive 
them. 

First,  you  recognize  and  know  that,  from  eter- 
nity, Mrs.  Morven  and  you  have  been  one  idea 
or  germ  in  God;  she  the  love  and  you  the  truth 
element. 

Second,  you  realize  that  now  outbirthed  in  the 
form  of  self-conscious  individuals,  you  are  none 
the  less  essentially  one  in  spirit.  You,  looking 
at  her  as  a  person,  simply  behold  your  spiritual 
love-self  made  visible  and  tangible;  and  she, 
looking  upon  you  as  a  person,  sees  her  wisdom- 
self  similarly  projected  to  sense  view.  So  much 
you  intellectually  perceive. 

Third,  you  have  only  practically  to  realize  what 
you  hold  in  theory.  She  sees  that  you  are  her 
wisdom,  and  she  has  largely — not  fully — entered 
into  her  possessions;  now,  as  she  is  your  love, 
enter  into  your  inheritance.  Being  one,  what  is 
hers  is  yours,  and  what  is  yours  is  hers.  In  full 


Two  In  One  235 

realization  of  your  unity  there  can  be  no  separate 
or  private  possessions  or  capacities.  If  you  are 
shut  out  from  powers  possessed  by  your  wife,  it 
is  only  because  you  shut  yourself  out. 

Let  me  quote  a  passage  from  Swedenborg  on 
this  subject,  not  as  authority,  but  as  a  clear  ex- 
pression of  the  truth : 

'Everyone,  both  man  and  woman,  has  under- 
standing and  will;  but  yet  in  man  the  under- 
standing predominates,  and  in  woman  the  will 
predominates,  and  the  character  of  the  person  is 
according  to  that  which  predominates.  But  in 
marriages  in  the  heavens,  there  is  no  predomi- 
nance; for  the  will  of  the  wife  is  also  that  of 
the  husband,  and  the  understanding  of  the  hus- 
band is  also  that  of  the  wife,  since  the  one  loves 
to  will  and  to  think  as  the  other,  thus  mutually 
and  reciprocally.  Hence  their  conjunction  in 
one.  This  conjunction  is  an  actual  conjunction; 
for  the  will  of  the  wife  enters  into  the  under- 
standing of  the  husband,  and  the  understanding 
of  the  husband  into  the  will  of  the  wife,  and  this 
especially  when  they  look  each  other  in  the  face.' 

This  doctrine  of  unity  of  husband  and  wife  is 
the  central  truth  of  all  truths.  The  prime  in- 
flux of  the  Divine  into  man  is  into  the  spiritual 
conjugal  faculty.  By  recognition  of  God  in  this 
relation,  a  united  pair  receives  the  Divine  into 
the  lowest  and  outermost  degree  of  the  sense  na- 
ture, thus  vivifying  and  Divinizing  the  entire 


236  Two  In  One 

man  in  soul  and  body  as  well  as  in  spirit.  Hence 
A  married  pair  even  in  the  natural  world  may 
rise  above  all  mere  mortal  conditions  of  pain  and 
disease  and  death  of  the  body,  and  will  do  so  in 
the  ratio  in  which  they  enter  into  the  fullness  of 
their  unity  in  spirit,  and  practically  realize  it. 

In  the  failure  to  hold  fast  this  truth  consisted 
the  fall  of  the  Edenic  pair.  Upon  the  holding 
to  this  truth  was  conditioned  their  freedom  from 
death.  This  was  the  tree  of  life  in  the  midst 
of  the  garden.  Now,  this  tree  is  again  being 
planted  in  the  soil  of  the  natural  world.  Your* 
selves,  with  a  few  others  in  the  world,  are  the 
van  guard  of  a  host  that  are  soon  to  come.  In 
you  is  to  dwell,  and  through  you  is  to  go  forth, 
a  Divine  power  such  as  the  world  has  not  hitherto 
known. 

Out  from  recognized  and  practical  counter- 
partal  relations  springs  the  tree  of  life  whose 
fruit  is  to  be  for  the  healing  of  the  nations/' 

"My  dear  friend,  words  cannot  express  my  joy 
and  gratitude — "  I  began,  when  my  wife  said, 
"We  are  alone."  And  so  it  was;  the  mission 
to  us  of  Professor  N.  for  the  time  was  ended. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

The  two  succeeding  years  passed  quickly  and 
joyously,  nothing  transpiring  worthy  of  note. 
Naturally,  the  subject  of  our  thoughts  and  daily 
communings  was  that  nearest  our  hearts,  viz. :  the 
wonlerful  revelation  which  had  come  to  us  and 
its  purport  to  the  world.  To  our  mental  vision, 
spiritual,  conjugal  unity  appeared  as  a  well- 
spring  of  living  water  to  a  thirsting  humanity; 
as  tlie  tree  of  life  planted  in  the  midst,  whose 
fruit  should  be  for  the  healing  of  the  nations; 
as  the  lever  which  is  to  raise  our  race  out  of  its 
awful  sloughs  of  sin  and  debasement  and  usher 
in  the  Kingdom  of  God  with  its  peace  on  earth 
and  good  will  among  men ;  as  the  blessed  channel 
through  which  should  flow  Divine  life-giving 
health  and  strength;  as  the  harbinger  of  that 
good  time  coming  when  the  very  body  shall  be- 
come God's  tabernacle,  and  when  all  tears  shall 
be  wiped  away  and  there  shall  be  no  more  sorrow 
nor  crying,  nor  pain  nor  death. 

How  far  we,  who  had  so  late  in  life  come  into 
this  experience,  were  to  be  used  in  the  further- 
ance of  its  glorious  fruition,  we  did  not  seek  to 
know;  but  we  rejoiced  in  the  hope  of  becomirg 
in  some  measure  an  exemplification  of  the  coming 
salvation. 


238  Two  In  One 

I  n  order  to  do  this,  however,  I  recognized  the 
necessity  of  a  deeper  spiritual  unfoldment  in  my- 
self than  I  had  yet  experienced.  I  intellectually 
apprehended  the  truth,  but  was  as  one  who  had 
a  view  of  the  promised  land  without  being  able 
to  enter  it.  There  was  a  conscious  lack  of  unity 
with  my  wife  which  I  could  not  understand  nor 
remove.  To  her  deeper  spiritual  vision  and  more 
tender  sensibilities,  our  lack  of  perfect  unity  was 
more  clearly  seen  and  more  keenly  felt  than  was 
possible  with  me.  In  fact,  it  became  a  great 
burden  to  her.  In  her  dreams,  she  would  cee 
me  sinking  down  into  mire  and  darkness,  away 
from  her  sight,  and  would  start  up  screaming 
with  agony.  All  this,  as  afterwards  proved,  was 
a  prevision  of  a  coming  crisis  in  my  life.  It 
began  with  a  failure  in  my  health.  First,  there 
were  symptoms  of  kidney  trouble,  which  was 
speedily  followed  by  a  general  paralysis  of  the 
body  by  reason  of  which  I  was  confined  to  my 
bed. 

I  was  mentally  perturbed,  also  harassed  by 
strange  temptations,  irritability,  fits  of  sadness, 
and  what  was  most  distressing,  a  growing  in- 
difference to  my  wife  bordering  on  actual  es- 
trangement and  even  doubts  of  the  truth  of  our 
spiritual  duality.  I  resisted  as  best  I  could  these 
infernal  suggestions,  Mrs.  Morven  aiding  me,  but 
all  to  no  purpose.  I  seemed  to  be  bereft  of  all 
Divine  help  or  sympathy.  I  realized  the  terri- 


Two  In  One  239 

ble  purport  of  Christ's  language  to  Peter,  " Satan 
hath  desired  thee  to  sift  thee  as  wheat. " 

This  state  of  things  having  continued  for  some 
weeks,  my  dear  wife  ministering  to  my  wants, 
encouraging  me  with  words  of  hope  and  cheer 
and  giving  me  such  mental  treatment  as  was  pos- 
sible under  the  circumstances.  At  last,  one 
morning,  I  perceived  tears  trickling  down  her 
face,  the  first  time  I  had  even  seen  her  thus  af- 
fected. I  was  shocked  and  ashamed,  and  en- 
deavored to  make  some  protest  when  she  broke 
down  altogether  and  said  between  her  sobs,  "0, 
Robert,  this  is  dreadful !  I  can  bear  it  no  longer. 
Your  withdrawal  from  me  has  shut  out  the  very 
light  of  heaven  and  left  me  in  midnight  dark- 
ness. " 

"Well,  my  dear,"  I  remarked,  "what  can  we 
do  to  help  ourselves  ?" 

"Pardon  me,  my  dear  husband,  the  source  of 
our  trouble  is  very  clear  to  me.  We  should  re- 
move the  cause  and  the  effects  will  disappear. 

Allow  me  to  say  that  your  bodily  condition  in- 
dicates some  serious  defect  in  your  practical  ap- 
plication of  the  truth.  Dominion  is  our  birth- 
right. The  truth  makes  free,  not  merely  by  the 
intelligent  apprehension  of  it,  but  by  obedience 
to  it,  and  its  embodiment  in  life.  "Not  they 
that  say  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  King- 
dom of  Heaven,  but  they  who  do  the  will  of  my 
Father  which  is  in  Heaven."  "If  ye  abide  in 


240  Two  In  One 

me,"  says  the  Christ,  "and  my  word  abide  in 
you,  ye  shall  ask  what  ye  will  and  it  shall  be  done 
unto  you."  But  we  abide  in  him,  as  he  further 
says,  by  doing  his  commandments;  and  his  com- 
mandments are  summed  up  in  love.  Love  out- 
flows in  obedience.  "If  ye  love  me,  ye  will  keep 
my  commandments."  In  view  of  these  plain 
declarations  we  should  have  no  trouble  in  diag- 
nosing our  case.  I  say  "ours,"  since  our  rela- 
tion to  each  other  is  such  that  the  mental  states 
of  the  one  determine  those  of  the  other.  Our 
suffering  is  mutual.  We  rise  or  fall  together. 

Pardon  these  suggestions.  I  feel  that  my 
place  is  rather  to  sit  at  your  feet  for  instruction. 
But,  in  fact,  I  have  repeated  only  your  own  oft 
reiterated  thought." 

"You  are  right,  my  dear,  I  am  a  disgraceful 
example  of  the  results  of  substituting  theory  for 
practice,  and  what  grieves  me  inexpressibly,  I 
am  involving  you  in  my  transgression.  As  be- 
tween you  and  me,  I  have  vacated  all  right  to 
the  position  of  teacher  or  leader.  For  the  time, 
at  least,  I  surrender  that  role  to  you.  And  it 
may  be  that  in  this,  we  are  only  following  the 
Divine  order.  As  Eve  led  Adam  out  of  Para- 
dise, so  in  the  restoration,  she  should  lead  him 
back.  You  are  my  Eve.  To  your  leadership,  I 
now  surrender." 

"Very  well,  if  it  must  be  so.  My  leading 
will  be  directly  to  the  great  physician.  We  will 


Two  In  One  241 

take  up  the  Gospel  of  John  in  which  the  Master 
so  fully  discloses  his  vital  unity  with  man,  and 
read  it  together  as  one  mind,  one  heart,  one  soul, 
persistently  affirming  with  the  Father  in  him." 

' l  In  the  course  of  our  study  I  was  soon  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  conviction  that  I  was  yet 
dwelling  in  the  middle  court  of  the  temple — the 
range  of  mere  logical  mentality.  The  veil  was 
still  closed  preventing  my  entrance  into  the  holy 
of  holies  of  my  being,  the  inner  penetralia  of  im- 
mediate vision  of  God.  Analyzing  my  thought, 
I  found  that  with  all  my  philosophizing,  my  idea 
of  God  had  been  largely  that  of  an  abstract  prin- 
ciple of  life,  man  being  the  expression  thereof, 
somewhat  as  a  piece  of  music  is  the  expression  of 
the  principle  of  harmony.  I  had  sought  and 
loved  spiritual  truth  in  the  same  way  that  a 
scientist  seeks  and  loves  the  facts  and  laws  of 
nature.  Of  love  towards  God  as  a  sentiment, 
which  is  the  essential  bond  of  unity,  I  had  no  ex- 
perience. The  regarding  of  God  only  as  Law  or 
Principle  could  not,  of  course,  be  productive  of 
love  in  any  true  sense.  Love  in  its  very  nature 
implies  a  relation  between  beings  in  mutual  re- 
ciprocation of  the  sentiment.  God  can  be  said 
to  love  man  only  as  a  self-conscious  Being,  and 
only  by  the  recognition  of  the  Creator  as  such 
self-conscious  Being  can  man  exercise  love  toward 
him.  Herein  appears  the  necessity  to  our  race, 
probably  to  all  the  peoples  of  the  universe, 


242  Two  In  One 

of  the  'Word  made  flesh'  and  thus,  the  revelation 
to  finite  perception  of  the  Divine  Humanity  of 
the  Absolute  One,  in  accordance  with  Christ's 
saying,  'No  one  knoweth  the  Father  but  the  Son 
and  he  to  whom  the  Son  will  reveal  Him.' 

Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  effect  of  our  study 
was  as  if  a  veil  had  been  removed  from  my 
vision.  I  came  practically  to  realize  myself  not 
only  as  living,  moving  and  having  being  in  and 
of  God,  but  experientally  to  recognize  Him  a& 
the  Christ  personalized  within  me.  Thence  a 
fountain  of  love — love  as  a  sentiment  toward  God 
and  man,  was  opened  up  to  my  interior  con- 
sciousness and  I  spiritually  apprehended  the  im- 
port of  the  Lord's  language  to  the  woman  of  Sa- 
maria :  '  The  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  be 
a  well  of  water  springing  up  into  everlasting  life. ' 

Recognizing  my  eternal  inherency  in  the  Word, 
the  Christ  in  God,  there  was  verified  in  my  ex- 
perience the  language  of  Christ  representing  the 
Son  of  Man  as  descending  from,  ascending  tor 
and  being  in,  Heaven.  I  felt  as  a  wanderer  re- 
turning home — to  that  place  which  the  Lord  said 
he  was  going  to  prepare  for  his  disciples,  that 
they  might  be  where  he  was.  It  was  as  if  my 
life  were  the  pulsations  of  the  very  heart  of  the 
infinite  life  to  which  every  fibre  of  my  being  re- 
sponded 'Abba  Father.'  " 

I  for  the  first  time  practically  apprehended  the- 
causal  relation  between  that  mental  state  of  be- 


Two  In  One  24S 

lieving  assurance  termed  by  Christ  faith,  and  its 
effects  in  the  accomplishment  of  our  desires  ex- 
pressed in  prayer.  I  perceived  that  by  con- 
scious unity  with  God  our  lives  become  the  open 
channel  for  the  outflow  and  manifestation,  in  us 
and  through  us,  of  the  Divine  Life;  and  hence 
that  the  attaining  and  abiding  in  Christ,  and 
thereby  his  Word  abiding  in  us,  is  the  key  to  that 
overcoming  which  the  risen  Son  of  Man  pro- 
claims in  the  Apocalypse,  to  the  churches. 

The  eternal  verity  of  the  results  to  which  I 
had  come  in  my  life  of  thought  flashed  upon  me 
with  overwhelming  vividness,  in  the  light  of 
which  I  recognized  as  never  before  my  essential 
and  eternal  oneness  with  my  love  self — Mary. 
And  with  this  perception  came  the  words  "They 
twain  shall  be  one  flesh — What  God  hath  joined 
together  let  not  man  put  asunder." 

At  that  moment  looking  up,  there,  to  my 
astonishment,  stood  Professor  N.,  appearing  as 
I  had  last  seen  him,  except  that  his  person  was 
bathed  in  a  radiance  of  light! 

I  sprang  up  to  meet  him,  but  here  another  sur- 
prise awaited  me.  I  was  physically  whole,  every 
nerve  in  my  body  tingling  with  health.  "My  dear, 
dear  friend, "  I  cried,  "what  blessed " —  but  my 
voice  was  hushed  by  a  sudden  peal  of  music  that 
thrilled  me  and  I  stood  rapt  in  unutterable 
ecstacy  till  it  died  away. 

Professor  N.  remarked,  "This    music    is    the 


244  Two  In  One 

celebration  of  your  nuptials  by  your  angel 
friends.  The  song  as  you  notice  was  "Let  us 
be  glad  and  rejoice  and  give  honor  to  him,  for 
the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  has  come  and  his  wife 
hath  made  herself  ready.*' 

Tonight,  he  continued,  you  have  really  entered 
into  the  heavenly  marriage.  Heretofore  you 
have  been  espoused.  These  angel  friends  have 
come,  as  I  have,  to  give  you  their  greetings,  and 
congratulations.  Here  is  another  also  whom 
you  have  not  seen;  let  me  introduce  her.  Sud- 
denly there  appeared  at  his  side  his  counterpartal 
self — the  woman  of  him.  She  smilingly  bowed 
and  said,  "All  hail!  ye  blessed  of  the  Lord";  and 
it  was  as  if  her  husband  had  spoken  through  her, 
only  the  tones  of  voice  were  modified  by  a  sweet 
feminine  tenderness.  In  appearance,  I  can  only 
describe  her  as  (that  which  she  was)  the  embodied 
love  answering  to  her  husband  as  embodied  truth. 
They  being  seated,  we  continued  our  colloquy. 

Great  and  wonderful  as  the  change  that  had 
passed  over  me,  all  seemed  so  natural  that  some 
time  elapsed  before  the  thought  of  it  occurred, 
when  I  exclaimed,  "How  is  this,  that  I  am  see- 
ing and  talking  with  you?" 

"It  means  that  your  spiritual  vision  is  opened," 
said  the  Professor. 

"I  do  not  quite  understand.  Am  I  seeing  you 
with  the  natural  eye?" 

"Partly,  yes,  and  partly  no.     You  are  seeing 


Two  In  One  245 

through  the  natural  eye.  The  spiritual  has  so 
vivified  the  natural  as  to  render  it  susceptible  to 
spirit  impressions.  We  are  not  spirits  (or  a 
spirit),  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  that  term.  We 
have  resumed  the  body,  but  it  is  the  spiritual 
body  of  which  Paul  speaks, — "  There  is  a  natural 
body  and  there  is  a  spiritual  body."  Ours  is  the 
state  of  those  of  whom  Christ  says,  "They  that 
are  of  the  resurrection  neither  marry  nor  are 
given  in  marriage,  but  are  as  the  angels." 

"Please  continue,"  said  Mrs.  Morven,  as  the 
Professor  paused.  "I  should  like  to  hear  you 
further  on  this  interesting  subject." 

"You  are  aware,"  he  resumed,  "that  the  per- 
fected man  in  Christ  becomes  as  did  his  Master, 
Divinized  as  to  his  body  as  well  as  his  soul,  so 
that  he  may  say,  as  Christ  said  to  Thomas,  "Feel 
me  and  see;  a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones,  as 
ye  see  me  have. '  This  may  be  termed  the  Divine 
natural  state." 

"Then  a  spirit,"  interposed  Mrs.  Morven,  "is, 
if  I  understand  you,  one  who  has  laid  aside  the 
natural  body  and  has  not  entered  into  this  res- 
surrection  or  Divine  natural  condition.  Has  the 
spirit,  then,  no  body?"  ^&^0A^X*£ 

"Assuredly,  a  physical  or  soul-body,  so  to 
speak.  All  the  faculties  of  sense,  and  of  thought 
and  feeling  of  the  natural  body,  are  primarily  in 
and  of  the  internal  man.  The  death  of  the  body 
is  merely  a  cessation,  for  the  time,  of  its  activities 


246  Two  In  One 

— a  loss  of  consciousness  on  that  plane.  The 
man's  consciousness  continues  in  the  soul  degree 
only.  In  this  state  he  is  a  spirit.  This  was  the 
state  of  all  of  our  race  previous  to  Christ.  Christ 
was  the  first  fruits  of  the  Divine  natural  man- 
hood. His  resurrection  was  the  bringing  of  the 
Divine  life  down  into  very  flesh  and  bones  of  his 
natural  body,  and  thus  spiritualizing  it  or  ren- 
dering it  Divine.  His  resurrection  is  the  guar- 
antee of  the  resurrection  of  every  member  of  our 
race,  'but  every  man  in  his  own  order/  as  writes 
the  Apostle. 

Man's  states  as  to  his  body,  even  as  to  his  soul, 
is  determined  by  his  faith.  The  law  holds  in  this 
as  well  as  in  soul  states,  "According  to  your 
faith  be  it  unto  you."  In  the  natural  state,  men 
have  natural  bodies  because  of  their  faith  or  be- 
lief in  such  bodily  states.  But  immersed  in 
sense  as  the  world  is,  there  is  no  conception  of, 
nor  faith  in,  any  body  other  than  that  of  the 
material ;  and  hence  upon  entering  into  the  spirit 
realm  the  soul  has  no  power  to  project  a  body 
beyond  the  soul  plane  of  thought.  But  they 
whose  faith  has  become  perfected  and  who, 
therefore,  realize  all  externals  as  merely  the  out- 
ward expression  of  the  internal  man,  reassume 
a  body,  not  of  flesh  and  blood,  but  a  spiritual 
body  perfectly  adapted  to  its  enlarged  capacities. 
The  body  moves  from  place  to  place  with  the 
celerity  of  thought,  appears  or  disappears  at  will, 


Two  In  One  247 

and  has  the  power  of  acting  on  the  natural  as 
well  as  the  spiritual  plane.'* 

1  *  Why  do  evil  spirits  seek  to  obsess  those  in  the 
flesh  1" 

"It  is  the  longing  desire  of  all  spirits,  and 
especially  of  those  in  sensualized  states,  to  resume 
ultimated  bodily  conditions.  The  delights  of 
those  in  evil  being  wholly  sensual,  the  being  cut 
off  from  the  body,  where  all  sense  terminates  in 
power  and  intensity,  is  to  be  deprived  of  their  chief 
source  of  gratification.  It  is  for  this  reason  that 
spirits  seek  to  obsess  the  bodies  of  men  in  the 
flesh.  The  legion  inhabiting  the  man  of  Gedara 
sought,  rather  than  be  dispossessed  of  incarnate 
conditions,  to  enter  into  and  inhabit  swine.  It  is 
this  desire  of  low  and  sensual  spirits  to  hold  com- 
merce with  carnal  states  of  life  that  causes  them 
to  flock  like  vultures  to  every  mediumistic  open- 
ing from  the  spiritual  into  the  natural.  It  is  this 
species  of  influx,  also,  that  renders  spiritualistic 
communings  so  dangerous.  Such  spirits  always 
seek  to  enslave  their  subject  and  use  him  for  their 
own  gratification;  and  wonderful  as  it  may  seem, 
the  sexual  faculties  are  the  prime  seat  of  their 
diabolical  infestation.  Hence  the  sexual  dis- 
orders which  so  commonly  flow  from  spiritism. 

"What  advantage  do  you  find  in  your  present 
over  your  former  state  as  a  spirit  V 

"The  bringing  of  the  Divine  life  down  and  out 
into  the  extreme  bodily  degree,  increases  our 


248  Two  In  One 

powers  and  delights  both  as  to  extent  and  in- 
tensity, almost  infinitely.  It  gives  us,  also, 
power  to  enter  into  natural  conditions,  and,  as 
we  are  doing  now,  commune  with  those  spirit- 
ually in  rapport  with  us.  Moreover,  as  angels 
we  are  enabled  to  minister  good  to  those  in  the 
natural  world  in  a  way  and  to  an  extent  not  pos- 
sible by  spirits." 

"Is  the  new  heaven  composed  only  of  those 
whom  you  term  angels?" 

"Yes,  of  those  alone.  And  angels  is  the 
proper  term.  Spirits  as  such  are  not  angels. 
"They  become  angels  by  entering  into  this  more 
advanced  state.  All  previous  to  Christ,  who  had 
lived  good  lives,  as  well  as  all  since  his  coming, 
who  have  had  the  faith  to  receive  him  as  the 
Saviour  of  the  soul,  but  not  of  the  body,  have 
been  gathered  into  a  realm  in  the  spirit  world, 
which  we  may  term  the  old  heaven.  This  is  a 
realm  of  peace,  and  is  heaven  as  far  as  possible 
to  the  mere  soul  state.  It  was  the  Paradise, 
where  Christ  told  the  thief  he  would  meet  him, 
and  the  place  where  Lazarus  rested  in  Abraham's 
bosom.  Gehenna,  whither  the  rich  man  went, 
was  the  dwelling  place  in  the  spirit  world  of 
those  in  evil.  But  since  Christ,  the  Gospel  of 
complete  salvation — of  the  Divinization  of  both 
soul  and  body — has  been  preached  in  the  old 
heaven,  and  those  who  have  the  faith  have  been 
entering  into  fullness  of  life  in  Christ,  thus  con- 


Two  In  One  249 

stituting  the  New  Heavens  of  which  John  speaks 
in  Revelation — the  New  Jerusalem.  Thus  the 
resurrection  has  been  going  on  since  the  ascent 
of  Christ,  and  is  still  in  progress.  There  has 
been,  within  the  last  hundred  years,  a  fresh  in- 
flux from  the  New  Heavens  into  the  spiritual 
realms  immediately  in  connection  with  the  earth, 
driving  away  the  darkness  and  clearing  the  way 
for  a  fuller  descent  of  the  light  of  heaven  upon 
earth,  such  as  never  before.  It  is,  as  expressed 
in  Revelation,  the  descent  of  the  Holy  City,  the 
New  Jerusalem.  It  is  bringing  with  it  a  clear- 
ness of  faith  and  a  power  against  evil  to  all  re- 
ceptive souls  such  as  enables  many  to  enter  im- 
mediately into  angelhood." 

"Can  one  become  an  angel  or  an  inhabitant  of 
the  New  Jerusalem  who  has  not  yet  found  his 
counterpartal  self?" 

"Certainly  not.  All  angels  are  two-in-one. 
Only  counterpartal  souls  are  of  what  the  Lord 
calls  the  resurrection.  Hence  if  one  is  removed 
to  the  spirit  world  before  the  other  self,  as  was 
the  case  with  my  wife  here,  he  or  she  remains  in 
the  spirit  realm  and  awaits  the  other's  coming." 

"You  spoke,  once  before,  of  broad  avenues  lead- 
ing out  from  the  city  of  Centropolis;  do  those 
avenues  lead  to  Gehenna  ? ' ' 

"Yes;  Gehenna,  you  should  remember,  is  the 
general  term  for  the  abode  of  the  evil,  as  distin- 


250  Two  In  One 

guished  from  Paradise,  the  abode  of  the  good  in 
Hades,  or  the  spirit  realm.  Congenial  spirits 
gravitate  toward  each  other  and  form  communi- 
ties. The  metropolis  of  any  region  in  Hades  is, 
as  I  have  said,  the  center,  whence  each  finds  the 
road  leading  him  to  the  abode  of  those  who  are 
in  the  same  life's  love  as  himself.  Each  one  is 
drawn  as  the  magnet  attracts  the  needle,  out  in 
the  direction  and  along  the  way  leading  him  to 
his  own — the  good  to  Paradise,  the  evil  to  Ge- 
henna. The  ways  leading  to  the  latter  trend 
downward,  those  leading  to  the  former,  upward. 

The  abode  of  each  one  there  being  among  com- 
panions perfectly  congenial,  and  all  his  environ- 
ment being  perfectly  harmonious  with  his  supreme 
love,  he  is  happy  after  the  manner  of  his  kind  and 
to  the  extent  of  his  capacity.  Lust,  greed,  avar- 
ice, and  every  other  phase  of  embodied  evil  finds 
its  abode  exactly  adapted  to  the  fullest  gratifica- 
tion of  its  perverted  nature,  with  only  two  checks 
upon  indulgence.  One  of  these  is  the  external  re- 
straints of  associates,  all  of  whom  are  alike  su- 
premely bent  on  self -gratification.  In  any  soci- 
etary  condition,  there  must  be  laws  by  which  all 
are  bound,  and  in  the  abodes  of  evil  the  fear  of 
punishment  is  the  only  restraint.  This  punish- 
ment may  and  does  proceed  from  two  sources, 
viz.:  from  companions,  for  the  violation  of  their 


Two  In  One  251 

infernal  rules  of  order;  and  from  the  penalty  in- 
herent in  all  disorderly  states.  This  is  the  sec- 
ond check  upon  indulgence.  The  same  law  holds 
there  as  in  this  world.  Evil  is  self  inflictive.  The 
drunkard  or  the  debauchee  in  this  world  suffers 
both  mentally  and  physically  from  riotous  living. 
So  it  is  in  Hell.  They  madly  and  unrestrainedly 
plunge  into  excess,  the  reaction  comes,  the  vile 
lusts  become  as  a  burning  flame  of  torture  for  the 
time.  The  rich  man's  calling  upon  Abraham  to 
send  Lazarus  to  dip  his  finger  in  water  to  cool 
his  parched  tongue,  is  an  illustration  in  point. 

I  need  not  say  that  this  state  is  not  endless.  Evil 
is  self -destructive.  The  false  and  evil  character 
is  consumed  in  the  fires  of  its  own  lusts.  Eventu- 
ally the  organism  ceases  to  respond  to  any  stimuli, 
gradually  grows  weaker,  until  at  last  it  dies  of  in- 
anition. The  Prodigal  Son  affords  an  illustration 
here.  He  wasted  his  substance  in  riotous  living, 
came  to  be  in  want,  and  would  fain  have  filled 
himself  with  the  swinish  husks  of  sensuality, 
but  no  man  gave  unto  him.  Having  become  in- 
capacitated beyond  the  quickening  power  of  any 
sensual  stimulus,  he  sat  down  in  utter  desolation 
and  despair,  and  at  this  crisis,  through  the  open 
rents  of  his  disintegrating  character-tenement,  a 
ray  of  Divine  light  penetrated  his  consciousness 
and  he,  remembering  his  Father,  resolved  to  re- 


252  Two  In  One 

turn.  This  is  a  gospel  that  reaches  the  lowest 
deeps  of  Hell. 

Now,  pardon  me,  I  feel  that  our  present  visit 
should  terminate.  We  shall  see  you  often  now. 
You  are  one  of  us.  You  have  your  place  in  the 
descending  city  of  the  New  Jerusalem;  you  are 
known  by  name.  Your  brethren  are  rejoicing 
with  you,  and  you  will  be  visited  by  them  as  well 
as  by  us.  While  we  man  not  in  any  way  dictate 
to  you,  or  interfere  with  your  utmost  freedom, 
there  are  ways  in  which  we  can  and  shall  help 
you.  You  and  we,  in  fact,  are  all  one  in  the  com- 
mon work  of  seeking  the  establishment  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  We  shall  not  leave  you  now 
so  unceremoniously  as  before." 

The  angelic  pair,  lifting  their  hands  in  blessing, 
and  saying  " Peace  be  unto  you,"  gradually  disap- 
peared from  our  view,  whilst  the  most  exquisite 
strains  of  far-off  music,  as  of  the  tones  of  myriad 
voices,  were  wafted  to  our  ears. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Ten  years  have  elapsed  since  the  close  of  the 
last  chapter.  Mr.  Calvin  became  too  broad  for 
his  church  and  was  called  to  an  unsectarian  con- 
gregation in  an  eastern  city.  Mr.  Priestly  is  yet 
a  Swedenborgian  but  has  thrown  off  the  shackles 
of  authority.  Mr.  Clark  pursues  his  esoteric 
studies  as  before.  Berta  is  his  housekeeper,  and 
is,  as  ever,  in  close  sympathy  with  her  father. 
Three  children,  a  boy  and  two  girls,  call  me 
grandfather.  Their  parents  having  applied  their 
knowledge  of  hereditary  law,  the  children  seem 
to  be  an  improvement  on  the  original  stock. 

My  wife  and  I  are  living  in  our  quiet  mountain 
retreat,  removed  from  the  noise  and  bustle  of  the 
world,  doing  an  invisible  work.  Of  our  personal 
history  during  the  past  decade,  little  need  be  said. 
Converse  with  our  heavenly  friends  has  been 
almost  constant  and  unremitting.  There  has 
been  a  steady  advance  to  completer  unity  from 
within  outwardly,  finally  reaching  to  and  pervad- 
ing the  extremest  degree  of  our  bodily  structures. 
It  is  as  though  faculty  were  enfolded  within  fac- 
ulty, organ  within  organ,  tissue  within  tissue, 
even  to  the  minutest  cells.  In  thought,  feeling 
and  act  we  are  one.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  de- 


254  Two  In  One 

scribe  the  experience  further  than  to  say  that  God 
tabernacles  with  us,  pervading  our  being  to  ex- 
tremest  sense  with  ineffable  delights.  Tempta- 
tions come,  but  have  no  power  over  us.  We  are 
infinitely  content — infinitely  satisfied. 

Gradually  our  bodies  have  taken  on  a  more 
spiritual  aspect,  the  fiesh  becoming  as  it  were 
translucent.  All  disease  and  the  weakness  of 
age  have  dropped  away  from  us ;  and  we  have  re- 
sumed the  virile  manhood  and  womanhood,  and 
even  the  apearance,  of  middle  life.  How  far  this 
transformation  is  to  extend,  we  do  not  concern 
ourselves  to  inquire.  It  suffices  us  to  know  that 
our  Heavenly  Father 's  will  is  being  done  in  us 
and  by  us.  Whensoever  and  howsoever  may  be 
our  passing  from  earth  life  matters  little.  It 
may  be  that  in  these  records,  left  for  the  reading 
of  those  who  have  ears  to  hear,  lies  our  chief  work 
in  the  body. 

But  at  least  our  experience  has  established  the 
fact  that  in  the  spiritual  union  of  husband  and 
wife  in  God  is  to  be  found  the  long-sought  elixir 
vitae,  the  philosopher's  stone,  the  fountain  of 
youth.  It  has  been  vainly  sought  for  in  exter- 
nals— in  such  things  as  food  and  drink,  medical 
decoctions,  animal  secretions,  and  mineral  springs. 
All  life  comes  from  within,  from  the  realm  of 
spirit.  In  God  is  life,  and  only  in  conjugal 


Two  In  One  255 

states  can  the  way  be  so  opened  as  to  give  im- 
mortality to  the  body. 

In  one  respect  our  course  has  been  directed 
differently  from  what  we  had  hoped  and  expected. 
Formerly  the  healing  of  bodily  disease  formed 
probably  the  most  prominent  feature  of  our  an- 
ticipated work  for  the  good  of  humanity.  But 
while  it  is  true  that  the  power  of  healing  has 
been  developed  to  a  marvelous  degree  within  us, 
we  have  been  restrained  from  its  exercise  except 
upon  those  who  are  spiritually  receptive  of  the 
truth. 

Bodily  disease  being  the  ultimation  of  spiritual 
conditions,  to  remove  the  bodily  effect  whilst  the 
mental  cause  remains,  would  be  to  give  power  and 
license  for  further  and  perhaps  deeper  transgres- 
sion. To  illustrate:  Take  the  man  diseased  in 
body  by  reason  of  excesses,  but  still  reeking  with 
lust,  gnashing  his  teeth  as  it  were  in  impotency. 
His  weakness  is  a  reminder  of  his  evils,  and  tends 
to  work  his  reformation.  But  supose  his  bodily 
strength  is  restored,  would  it  not  serve  merely 
as  a  means  of  a  deeper  plunge  into  the  pit  of  de- 
struction? It  was  on  this  principle  that  Christ 
said  to  the  man  he  had  healed,  "Go  and  sin  no 
more,  lest  a  worse  thing  come  upon  thee."  Christ 
healed  only  those  who  had  faith  to  be  spiritually 
benefitted;  who  were  in  a  state  to  receive  spirit- 
ual good  along  with  bodily  healing  (the  latter  in 


256  Two  In  One 

fact  as  a  result  of  the  former) ;  and  we  feel 
assured  that  now,  as  then,  the  spiritual  state  of 
the  subject  should  be  made  a  prime  condition  for 
the  exercise  of  this  power.  If  the  spiritual  state 
of  the  patient  is  such  that  he  is  not  desirous  of 
deliverance  from  the  moral  evil  which  is  the  pro- 
ducing cause  of  his  malady,  then  the  healing 
power  of  thought  can  reach  no  farther  than  the 
body,  and  is  of  the  nature  of  hypnosis,  or  the 
subjection  of  one  natural  mind  to  another. 
Through  this  means,  relief  may  be  afforded — 
sometimes  in  a  most  striking  manner — but  the 
effect  is  only  transitory.  The  bodily  state,  like 
a  bent  bow  released  from  its  tension,  springs 
back  into  harmony  with  the  mental. 

All  effects  induced  on  the  body  merely, 
whether  through  the  agency  of  hypnotism  or  that 
of  poisons  (termed  medicines)  are  of  necessity 
only  temporary.  Bodily  disease  can  be  perma- 
nently cured  only  by  a  mental  change.  All  true 
healing  must  be  through  the  Christ  method  of  in- 
ducing in  the  patient  a  state  of  mental  health, 
and  bringing  the  body  into  a  state  of  harmony 
therewith.  Healing  in  any  other  way  is  a  very 
questionable  good.  Hence  we  have  felt  that  we 
dare  not  descend  to  indiscriminate  healing.  We 
believe  it  to  be  only  hypnotic  in  its  nature,  and 
therefore  a  curse  rather  than  a  blessing. 

However,  to  those  who  have  the  faith — who  are 


Two  In  One  257 

prepared  to  receive  spiritual  good — our  power 
to  heal  the  body  seems  to  be  unlimited  in  extent 
and  unhindered  by  spatial  distance.  Nay,  as 
state  in  spirit  makes  conjunction,  even  spirits  are 
attracted  to  us  for  help.  We  thus  stand  as  a 
focal  center  for  the  radiating  of  life  and  healing 
to  all  in  this  or  in  the  spirit  realm  to  whom  we 
are  congenial  in  life  quality  and  to  whose 
needs  we  are  thus  adapted. 

Though  living  in  obscurity,  we  receive  letters 
daily  from  persons  who  have  in  the  Lord's  prov- 
idence learned  of  us,  and  to  whom  it  is  our 
blessed  privilege  of  imparting  the  spiritual  and 
physical  health  they  seek. 

The  following,  for  example,  is  one  of  the  many 
appeals  from  the  spirit  world :  One  evening  while 
sitting  at  our  fireside  we  were  startled  by  a  sud- 
den convulsive  weeping  in  the  room.  I  inquired 
who  was  there,  and  what  was  wanted.  The  dim 
outline  of  a  figure  apeared  of  a  man  seemingly 
about  thirty  years  of  age.  He  said  he  had  been 
sent  to  us  for  help  by  a  man  in  white.  The 
purport  of  his  story  was  that  he  had  grown  up 
in  the  slums  of  a  city,  and  had  been  taught  only 
evil ;  that  in  a  drunken  spree  he  had  killed  a  man, 
and  suffered  as  a  consequence  the  death  penalty; 
that  he  had  found  himself  in  the  spirit  world 
among  boon  companions;  and  that  they  and  he 
lived  together  in  a  place  like  a  cave,  where  they 


258  Two  In  One 

had  every  means  of  indulgence  of  their  appetites,, 
the  chief  man  of  the  place  being  a  large  black 
man,  who  had  welcomed  him  on  his  arrival,  and 
given  him  every  facility  for  gratification.  He 
was  well  pleased  for  a  time,  but  eventually  by 
over-indulgence  he  became  weak  and  sick.  He 
began  to  think  of  the  murder  he  had  committed 
and  of  all  his  evil  life,  and  became  sad  and  sor- 
rowful. The  place  and  his  companions  became 
hateful  to  him.  The  black  man  scowled  at  him 
and  cursed  and  abused  him,  setting  him  at  hard 
labor. 

Finally  he  could  endure  it  no  longer  and  es- 
caped. After  wandering  about  for  a  long  time, 
feeling  more  and  more  dreadfully  about  the  life 
he  had  led,  at  last  he  fell  down  on  the  cold  rocks 
of  the  desolute  country  where  he  was  and  cried 
out  for  mercy  and  help. 

Then  a  beautiful  man  in  white  came  to  him, 
whose  face  was  so  kind  and  tender  that  it  almost 
broke  his  heart,  and  he  lay  and  sobbed,  not  being 
able  to  lift  his  head.  But  the  man  touched  him 
and  told  him  to  rise  and  he  would  send  him  where- 
he  would  be  told  what  to  do.  "So,"  he  con- 
tinued, "he  brought  me  to  you.  I  don't  know 
where  I  am  nor  who  you  are,  but  if  you  can  help 
me  I  pray  you  to  do  so." 

Having  first  ministered  to  him  courage  and  bod- 
ily strength,  we  gave  him  such  instruction  aa 


Two  In  One  259 

seemed  to  suit  his  case,  among  other  things  ad- 
vising him  to  find  the  man  he  had  killed  and  seek 
his  pardon,  making  such  reparation  as  he  might 
be  able. 

In  a  few  evenings  he  again  appeared,  his  coun- 
tenance glowing  with  delight,  and  said  he  had 
again  met  the  man  in  white,  who  had  got  forgive- 
ness of  his  victim  of  his  victim  and  made  repara- 
tion for  him;  and  now  he  wanted  to  know  what 
else  he  should  do. 

In  brief,  we  were  the  means  of  his  gradually 
coming  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  in  Christ — 
to  a  blessed  recognition  of  the  Beautiful  man  in 
white  as  the  Saviour,  and  so  of  the  prodigal's 
return  to  his  Father. 

From  Professor  N.  we  have  learned  much  of 
the  life  of  the  inhabitants  both  of  the  heavens  and 
of  the  intermediate  realm.  Usefulness  is  the  uni- 
versal law  there.  The  inhabitants  of  the  heavens 
so  love  one  another  that  the  welfare  of  each  and 
all  is  the  happiness  of  each  and  all.  This  love 
being  their  very  life,  they  evermore  spontaneously 
seek,  in  all  they  think  and  do,  the  good  of  others. 
The  thought  of  self-seeking  as  something  sepa- 
rate from  the  common  good  is  impossible.  Their 
mutual  relations  are  multiplied  beyond  the  con- 
ception of  natural  thought  and  their  employments 
in  rendering  mutual  service  are  as  manifold  as 
their  relations. 


260  Two  In  One 

In  addition  to  this,  they  are  engaged  in  loving 
ministrations  to  those  on  earth,  and  to  those  in  the 
nether  world ;  and  such  as  are  prepared  for  it  are 
sent  on  missions  to  the  heavens  of  other  planets, 
thus,  in  the  language  of  the  Apostle,  revealing 
"to  principalities  and  powers  the  manifold  wis- 
dom of  God  in  Jesus  Christ,  according  to  his  eter- 
nal purpose  through  the  ages." 

The  inhabitants  of  the  evil  realm,  whose  "life 's 
love  is  only  that  of  self,  of  course  can  have  no 
other  end  in  view  than  that  of  self  service.  But 
the  law  of  use  prevails  here  even  as  in  the  heav- 
ens. All  are  compelled  to  work  for  the  common 
good.  On  the  principle  that  he  that  will  not  work, 
neither  shall  he  eat,  they  are  starved  into  compli- 
ance with  the  law;  or,  if  incorrigible,  they  are 
confined  in  prison  work-houses,  and  are  punished 
by  various  tortures  until  they  are  willing  to  obey. 

As  long  as  they  render  outward  obedience  to 
the  law  of  useful  labor,  and  refrain  from  overt 
acts  of  injury  to  others,  they  enjoy,  within  the 
limits  of  temperate  indulgence,  such  pleasure  as 
lustful  gratification  affords.  But  in  their  insanity, 
like  the  drunkard  and  the  debauchee  on  earth, 
they  are  impelled  to  plunge  themselves  headlong 
into  dissipations.  This  weakens  the  evil  organ- 
ism, and  opens  the  way  for  an  influx  into  their 
consciousness  of  the  truth,  which  causes  their 
lusts  to  appear  as  consuming  flames.  Such  was 


Two  In  One  261 

the  temporary  state  of  the  rich  man  in  the  para- 
ble. Reverting  to  his  ordinary  condition,  he  of 
course  regarded  this  experience  as  mental  delu- 
sion— as  the  reptiles  seen  in  delirium  tremens. 
These  flaming  lusts  projected  into  external  ap- 
pearances are  the  Biblical  fires  of  Gehenna.  Their 
life  in  the  nether  world  is  gradually  dissipated  by 
their  lustful  excesses,  until  they  become  weak  and 
helpless  as  infants,  when  the  light  of  truth  shines 
in  and  reveals  to  their  horror-stricken  gaze  their 
state  of  evil. 

At  this  point  they  are  brought  by  the  ministra- 
tion of  angels  into  the  life  sphere  of  some  loving 
heart  or  society  on  earth,  whence  they  imbibe  new 
strength.  Such,  in  most  if  not  all  cases,  is  the 
first  step  toward  final  deliverance.  Henceforth 
they  are  prepared  to  receive  the  direct  teachings 
of  angels.  Thus  the  prodigal  returns,  is  clothed, 
and  enters  the  Father's  house. 

Doubtless  we  have  in  this  experience  the  sole 
foundation  for  the  Buddhistic  doctrine  of  reincar- 
nation." 

Our  frequent  talks  with  Professor  N.  have  taken 
a  wide  range.  Mrs.  Morven's  short-hand  notes  of 
these  talks  would  fill  volumes. 

In  a  recent  interview,  I  said :  ' '  Professor,  does 
the  present  physical  disturbances  and  general  up- 
turning in  social,  political  and  religious  conditions 
betoken  the  near  approximation  of  those  last 


262  Two  In  One 

times  indicated  by  Christ  in  the  24th  and  25th 
chapters  of  Matthew?" 

"You  can  judge  of  that  as  well  as  I,"  he  an- 
swered. "You  remember  Christ's  response  to  the 
questioning  of  the  desciples,  'When  shall  these 
things  be  ?'  He  said,  *  Of  that  day  and  hour  know- 
eth  no  man,  no,  not  the  angels  of  heaven,  but  my 
Father  only. '  As  to  the  manner  of  its  coming  and 
the  nature  of  the  depravities  abounding  I  may 
say  this:  That  there  will  be  an  opening  of  the 
objective  mind  and  thence  an  influx  from  the 
nether  world  as  well  as  from  the  descending  heav- 
ens and  a  resulting  conflict  between  the  evil  and 
the  good  as  has  never  been  known  before.  The 
history  of  humanity  has  been  an  evolution  through 
a  series  of  periods  termed  in  the  Greek,  Aeons, 
and  the  closing  of  each  Aeon  or  age  and  the  ush- 
ering in  of  a  new  epoch  has  been  marked  by  such 
a  spiritual  influx.  There  have  been  three  such 
crises,  viz:  the  Flood  of  Noah,  the  destruction  of 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah  and  the  period  of  Christ's 
advent.  That  each  of  these  periods  was  attended 
by  a  spiritual  irruption  is  crearly  manifest  from 
the  Biblical  account.  From  this  source,  came  the 
prevalent  conditions  of  demonization  of  Christ's 
time. 

"Again, you  may  expect  the  resulting  depravities 
of  the  age  to  come,  of  which  Christ  speaks,  to  be 
similar  to  those  of  the  past.  What,  then,  was  the 


Two  In  One  263 

prime  feature  of  those  depravities?  In  one  word, 
Sexual.  And  this  is  as  we  would  expect.  As  the 
sexual  nature  is  the  fountain  of  all  goodness  and 
blessedness,  in  its  unperverted  activity,  so,  in 
perverted  conditions  it  becomes  the  prime  source 
of  all  evil.  Man's  first  departure  from  God  was 
of  that  nature  as  clearly  indicated  in  the  Edenic 
narrative.  A  hint  of  man's  depravity  and  intimat- 
ing his  subjective  mental  status,  in  Noah's  day, 
and  hence  his  openness  to  conscious  influx  from 
the  spirit  realm,  is  dropped  in  what  is  said  of  the 
Sons  of  God  going  in  to  the  daughters  of  men,  etc. 
The  awful  picture  of  sexual  degradation  in  Sodom 
is  set  before  us  in  what  transpired  on  the  visit  of 
the  messengers  to  Lot.  Then  we  have  only  to 
read  chronicles  of  the  time  to  learn  the  conditions 
at  the  period  of  the  advent.  Thus  it  has  been  that 
those  faculties  which  in  their  purity  are  the  high- 
est and  noblest  in  our  nature  have,  in  their  per- 
version, become  the  instruments  of  our  deepest 
depravity.  It  would  seem  that  the  devil  not  only 
used  the  sexual  nature  as  the  channel  of  the 
original  temptation,  but  that  he  has  established 
his  prime  seat  in  this  central  citadel,  thence  hold- 
ing under  his  dominion  the  entire  man.  And  the 
rationale  of  this  fact  is  not  far  to  seek.  The  prime 
characteristic  of  our  human  race,  differentiating  it 
from  all  other  humanities  of  the  universe,  is  the 
supremacy  of  the  conjugal  nature. " 


264  Two  In  One 

"Pardon  me,  Professor,"  I  interposed,  ''let  me 
read  to  you  an  extract  from  a  description  of  the 
depravity  of  the  age  at  Christ's  coming,  which  I 
came  across  the  other  day,  in  this  little  volume. 
'  It  would  almost  seem, '  says  the  writer,  *  as  though 
in  the  destruction  of  Herculaneum  and  Pom- 
peii, which  occurred  a  few  years  after  Paul  en- 
tered the  imperial  city,  a  part  of  the  Almighty's 
purposes  was  to  bury  out  of  sight  the  evidences 
of  heathen  impurity  as  it  existed  in  the  age  in 
which  Christ  appeared,  and  preserve  them  so 
surely  that  there  might  be  no  question  as  to  their 
identity  when  they  should  be  offered  in  testimony 
before  the  bar  of  enlightened  Judgment  to  an  age 
succeeding  after  eighteen  centuries  have  rolled 
away.  The  Musee  Borbonico  at  Naples  contains 
a  collection  of  articles  which  the  excavations  m 
these  ancient  cities  have  yielded,  showing  the  very 
remarkable  degree  of  cultivation  which  existed  at 
the  time;  but  there  is  one  room  in  that  museum 
which  women  are  not  allowed  to  enter.  This  is 
all  the  more  suggestive  when  we  remember  that, 
in  the  modern  city  in  which  the  museum  stands, 
there  is  very  much  to  give  offense  to  the  pure  eyes 
of  women.  But  this  room  reeks  with  an  impurity 
which  Christian  civilization  has  ever  known,  even 
in  its  most  corrupt  day,  and  under  the  most  un- 
favorable influences,  and  contains  the  most  hid- 
eous proofs  of  the  abject  infamy  of  that  heathen- 


Two  In  One  265 

ism  which  was  rotten  to  the  core.  The  world  had 
reached  a  moral  condition  very  similar  to  that 
which  had  appeared  in  the  age  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  Flood,  when  Noah  appeared  as  a 
preacher  of  righteousness,  and  at  the  time  of  the 
destruction  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah. 

' '  "What  would  be  expected  of  a  people  who  built 
a  temple  consecrated  to  the  worship  of  a  female 
divinity,  in  which  a  host  of  abandoned  females 
were  kept  as  a  part  of  the  religious  establishment  ? 
What  can  be  thought  of  a  people  who  dared  not 
utter  aloud  the  prayers  which  they  whispered  in 
the  ears  of  such  Gods  and  Goddesses  as  these? 
Licentiousness  was  part  of  their  worship.  Inde- 
cent songs  and  symbols  attended  their  religious 
festivals. ' ' 

''I  am  glad  you  read  this.  It  is  horrible,  but 
it  simply  emphasizes  and  confirms  my  statements 
that  while  the  sex  nature  in  its  purity  is  the  in- 
spirational fount  of  all  that  is  blessed  and  noble 
in  humanity,  when  perverted  and  corrupted  it 
becomes  a  cesspool  of  rottenness  and  death. ' ' 

Now  ,  as  to  the  social,  industrial,  political  and 
religious  signs  of  the  times,  the  outlook  is  omin- 
ous of  an  impending  historical  crisis.  Natural  sci-/ 
the  utilization  of  her   forces    has    by    abridging^ 
ence,  through  its  discovery  of  nature's  laws  and -c 
time  and  space,  reduced  the  entire  world  to  a  4' 
neighboring  vicinage  and  compacted  society  into 


268  Two  In  One 

an  organism  in  which  the  various  trades  and  occu- 
pations, with  their  interlaced  vital  and  mutual 
relations,  constitute  the  organs  for  the  perform- 
ance of  its  common  life  functions. 

The  welfare  of  each  and  all  is  dependent  upon 
the  recognition  by  each  and  every  class  of  workers 
of  their  relation  and  obligations  to  the  entire  cor- 
porate body  and  the  performance  of  their  func- 
tions with  reference  to  the  common  good.  In  so 
far,  therefore,  as  self-seeking  is  suffered  to  con- 
trol the  activities  of  these  various  classes,  there 
will  necessarily  arise  dissensions,  strife  and  dis- 
order to  the  general  detriment.  Hence  the  pres- 
ent prevalent  dishonesties  and  industrial  antag- 
onisms. It  would  seem  as  though  selfishness  is 
increasing  apace  with  social  unification;  and,  of 
course,  the  closer  the  unity  the  more  fierce  and  re- 
lentless the  strife. 

The  practical  application  of  the  Golden  Eule, 
"Do  unto  others  as  you  would  have  them  do  to 
you/'  is  the  only  possible  basis  upon  which  a  so- 
cial superstructure  of  peace,  harmony  and  jus- 
tice can  rest.  In  other  words,  those  conditions 
can  exist  only  among  a  people  in  whom,  and  in 
the  ratio  that,  the  principles  of  justice,  righteous- 
ness and  love  prevail.  The  disorders  of  hell 
cannot  be  relieved  by  introducing  the  social  and 
governmental  regulations  of  the  heavens.  Fur- 
thermore, the  principles  of  just  and  harmonious 


Two  In  One  267 

social  and  political  conditions  must  be  rooted  in 
the  recognition  of  God  and  of  man's  relations  to 
Him.  The  brotherhood  of  man  must  flow  out 
from  the  well-spring  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God. 

This  brings  us  to  the  consideration  of  the  source 
of  our  present  troubles.  It  is,  in  a  word,  a  preva- 
lent agnosticism — that  condition  in  the  popular 
mind  portrayed  by  the  Psalmist,  "The  fool  hath 
said  in  his  heart,  no  god."  Modern  civilization,  in 
its  motives  and  methods  of  thought,  is  cutting 
loose  from  all  consideration  of  God  and  of  faith 
in  spiritual  realities  and  is  consequently  being 
given  over  to  an  utter  insanity  in  the  pursuit  of 
mere  material  acquisitions. 

God  is  the  life  of  man,  and  there  is  a  continuous 
Divine  impulse  within  him  to  seek  and  rest  in  that 
Life.  In  naught  else  can  satisfaction  or  rest  be 
found.  All  else  is  but  vanity  and  vexation  of 
spirit.  "I  shall  be  satisfied,  when  I  awake  in  thy 
likeness,"  says  an  inspired  writer  of  old.  Yes, 
when  we  awake  in  God's  likeness  we  shall  have 
rest — not  otherwise. 

But  men  in  their  blindness,  vainly  seek  satis- 
faction in  the  indulgence  of  the  bodily  senses  and 
appetites,  thus  substituting  swinish  husks  for  the 
bread  of  their  Father's  house.  The  result  is  a 
general  state  of  unrest,  a  rushing  to  and  fro,  a 
hurrying  hither  and  thither  seeking  to  fill  the  void 
within  by  the  accumulation  of  money  in  order  to 


268  Two  In  One 

the  gratification  of  petty  vanities,  gross  sensu- 
alities and  the  lust  of  power.  The  Apostle  James 
warns  us  that  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all 
evil.  It  is  certainly  eating  the  very  heart  out  of 
modern  civilization;  money,  money,  money — busi- 
ness, business,  business  for  money's  sake,  absorbs 
the  entire  time,  thought  and  energies  of  the  ordi- 
nary man,  largely  to  the  exclusion  of  every  inter- 
est in  anything  in  life  for  which  money  can  not  be 
exchanged. ' ' 

"Yes/'  I  interposed,  "I  have,  of  late  had  occa- 
sion to  learn  something  of  the  prevalent  popular 
skepticism  relative  to  anything  beyond  the  realm 
of  the  physical  senses.  And  I  have  observed 
further  an  alarming  lack  of  faith  in  mankind. 
Since  faith  in  the  fellow  man  can  spring  only  out 
of  faith  in  God,  the  eternal  Principle  of  Life, 
Truth  and  Love,  in  whom  man  essentially  inheres, 
and  of  whom  he  is  the  expression,  this  agnosticism 
is  generating  distrust,  suspicion  and  heartlessness 
in  all  business  operations.  The  word  "accommo- 
tion"  in  the  sense  of  lending  a  helping  hand 
purely  in  the  spirit  of  helpfulness  is  becoming 
comparatively  an  obsolete  term  in  the  vocabulary 
of  business.  The  maxim,  "Business  only  on  busi- 
ness principles"  is  interpreted  to  mean,  "Stifle 
every  feeling  of  sympathy  or  kindness. " 

And  the  same  cold,  mercenary  spirit  naturally 
animates  the  nations  in  their  intercourse.  Hu- 


Two  In  One  269 

manitarian  motives  bear  little  sway  with  the  world 
rulers  as  against  the  greed  of  gain.  And  so  the 
preparations  for  predatory  warfare  in  the  way  of 
vieing  with  each  other  in  the  building  of  huge 
armaments  continue  with  accelerated  zeal.  As 
selfishness  tends  to  domestic  strife  and  dissen- 
sion in  proportion  to  the  closeness  of  social  or- 
ganization, and  thus  of  the  increased  mutuality 
and  interdependence  of  classes  in  society,  so  the 
same  principle  holds  true  among  nations.  From 
this  source  there  are  manifest  threatening  possi- 
bilities if  not  probabilities  of  an  approaching 
world-wide  war. 

Moreover,  in  these  mental  perturbations  and 
disorders  of  the  race  we  have  the  primal  cause 
of  our  present  numerous  earthquakes  and  other 
physics!  disasters.  The  phenomenal  universe  is 
na  other  than  the  mental  universe  of  thought 
force  projected  into  visibility  and  manifestation. 
Hence  the  coupling  together  of  "wars  and  rumors 
of  wars"  and  "earthquakes  in  divers  places, "  by 
our  Lord  in  his  predictions  as  to  conditions  in  the 
end  of  the  ages." 

"All  these  signs  of  the  times,"  remarked  the 
Professor,  "seem  to  indicate  the  approach  of  that 
state  of  things  implied  in  the  question  of  our 
Lord:  'When  the  son  of  man  cometh  shall  he 
find  faith  on  the  earth?'  However,  we  should  re- 


270  Two  In  One 

mind  ourselves  of  His  admonition,  'Of  that  day 
and  hour,  knoweth  no  man.' 

But  of  one  thing  with  reference  thereto,  we 
have  the  blessed  assurance,  and  that  is  that  his 
coming  is  to  mark  the  boginning  of  the  end  of 
our  ages-long  historical  drama  of  sin  and  sorrow. 

It  is  to  result  in  the  utter  destruction  of  evil, 
the  casting  of  death  and  hades  into  the  lake  of 
fire,  the  purging  away  of  all  sin  and  God's  be- 
coming the  all  in  all." 

In  answer  to  a  question  Professor  N.  further 
remarked:  ''Age-abiding  is  the  better  rendering 
of  the  word  translated  "eternal"  in  the  New 
Testament  writings.  The  word  is  aionios,  the 
adjective  from  the  word  aion,  which  means  age. 
The  word  aion  is  defined  as  follows  in  the  Greek 
lexicon:  "A  period  of  time  significant  of  char- 
acter: life:  an  era:  an  age:  hence  a  state  of  things 
making  an  era  or  an  age.  It  is,  as  we  have  seen, 
applied  to  the  several  states  of  human  develop- 
ment. It  follows  that  aionios,  the  adjective, 
means  pertaining  to  an  era  or  an  age.  Aionian 
life  would  be  a  life  pertaining  to  an  age,  or  the 
ages.  In  the  very  nature  of  the  case  it  is  inde- 
terminate as  to  duration.  Its  significance  in  that 
regard  depends  on  its  application.  The  aionian 
life  of  those  who  have  become  one  in  conscious- 
ness with  God,  who  are  partakers  of  the  Divine 
life,  is  in  course  ,  unending.  But  the  aionian  pun- 


Two  In  One  271 

ishment  of  the  wicked  is  in  the  very  nature  of 
the  case,  not  unending,  but  only  co-enduring 
through  the  age  or  ages  of  the  continuance  of 
that  state  producing  pain.  The  conscious  life  of 
the  soul  which  does  not  become  receptive  of  the 
Divine  life,  must  perish.  The  aonian  death  con- 
sists of  the  process  of  decay  and  final  complete  de- 
struction of  this  evil  conscious  existence. 
The  Scriptures  nowhere  hint  of  endlessness  of 
conscious  existence  in  pain.  The  end  of  the  un- 
regenerate  is  always  spoken  of  as  destruction — 
not  of  the  individual,  as  we  have  learned  from 
modern  psychology,  but  of  the  character  which 
constitutes  his  evil  life. 

The  errors  into  which  Bible  interpreters  have 
fallen  on  this  subject  have  arisen  from  a  lack  of 
a  true  psychology.  They  Lave  assumed  that  the 
soul  is  constituted  into  a  substance  distinct  from 
God,  is  corruptible  in  its  essential  nature,  and  is 
endowed  with  inherent  immortality  or  endlessness 
of  conscious  existence  in  that  state.  This,  taken 
in  connection  with  the  idea  that  the  word  aion  as 
applied  to  the  lost  means  endless  duration,  has 
given  rise  to  the  horrid  notion  prevalent  that  a 
very  large  majority  of  humanity  are  destined  to 
roast  in  the  fires  of  unmitigable  torture  endlessly 
—all  for  God's  glory." 

''You  have  mentioned  conjugality  as  being  the 
prime  characteristic  of  our  earth  humanity  dif- 


272  Two  In  One 

ferentiating  it  from  other  humanities  of  the  uni- 
verse," said  Mrs.  Morven.  "This  suggests  sev- 
eral interesting  questions,  for  instance;  as  to  the 
fact  of  other  worlds  of  space  being  inhabited; 
how  the  inhabitants  differ  from  our  race  in  char- 
acter and  conditions  of  life ;  how  they  are  related 
to  us,  etc.  Our  scientists,  as  you  know,  are 
doubtful  even  about  any  of  the  planets  of  our 
solar  system  being  inhabited." 

"Yes,  this  comes  from  their  looking  no  deeper 
than  appearances.  You,  Mr.  Morven,  liava 
already  shown  that  all  phenomena  are  the  mani- 
festations of  spirit,  and  that  the  existence  of 
worlds  means  the  existence  of  peoples  of  which 
they  are  the  visualized  expression. 

Our  solar  system  is  constituted  of  a  family  of 
humanities  bearing  a  relation  to  one  another 
similar  to  the  principles  which  make  up  the  in- 
dividual man,  as  indicated  in  the  relative  func- 
tions of  the  several  parts  of  the  brain.  They  may 
be  said  to  constitute  a  solar  brain,  Mercury  being 
located  in  the  perceptive  region,  Mars  in  the  re- 
flective, Jupiter  in  the  social,  etc.,  the  prime  char- 
acteristic of  each  corresponding  to  its  location. 
The  location  of  our  humanity  is  the  cerebral  re- 
gion of  conjugality. 

You  have  already  noted  the  fact  that  evil  did 
not  originate  with  our  race,  and  intimated  a  lack 
of  knowledge  as  to  its  origin.  It  is  my  privilege 


Two  In  One  273 

to  say  that  its  prime  and  only  source  is  to  be  found 
in  the  planetoids,  the  debris  of  an  exploded 
planet,  situated  between  Mars  and  Jupiter,  about 
266  million  miles  from  earth. " 

"Are  we  to  understand,"  inquired  Mrs.  Mor- 
ven,  '  *  that  the  malific  influence  which  has  ever  in- 
fested our  race  has  its  seat  in  that  far  off  region, 
•sending  its  baleful  power  across  the  intervening 
space?" 

"Yes,  and  why  not?  We  know  that  there  is 
such  a  relation  between  the  other  planets  and  our 
world  that  they  do  affect  our  climatology,  and 
doubtless,  we  similarly  affect  them.  The  ether 
of  space  is  the  scientific  bond  of  connection.  But 
physical  forces  are  only  the  phenomenal  expres- 
sion of  the  mental  and,  to  mind,  there  is  no 
space. ' ' 

"Let  me  ask,  further,  what  caused  the  disrup- 
tion of  that  planet?" 

"In  a  word,  mental  disruption.  Love  of  others 
is,  of  course,  the  bond  holding  a  race  in  unity. 
Gravitation  which  gives  an  orb  its  sphericity  ia 
the  phenomenal  expression  of  that  love.  Now, 
suppose  a  humanity  to  fall  away  from  God  into 
self-love  so  that  the  inhabitants  should  be  in  a 
state  of  antagonism,  every  man's  hand  being 
Against  his  neighbor,  the  attraction  giving  spher- 
ical form  to  the  world  would  become  repulsion 
;and  it  would  fly  to  pieces." 


274  Two  In  One 

"Are  all  our  sister  planets,  Mercury,  Venus, 
Mars  and  the  rest,  affected  similarly  to  us  by  thi& 
cataclysm  in  our  midst?'* 

''In  a  measure,  they  are.  But  by  reason  of  a 
peculiar  psychic  relation  of  earth  to  the  fallen 
orb  (which  I  havn't  time  now  to  explain)  the 
chief  brunt  of  its  evil  influence  rests  upon  us.  And 
it  is  by  reason  of  this  intimate  relation  that  our 
race  is  adapted  to  become  the  medium  through 
which  evil  is  to  be  eradicated  from  the  universe 
by  the  Divine  Word  incarnated  therein." 
Another  question:  How  could  evil  originate  in 
a  universe  of  infinite  Love,  Wisdom  and  Power?" 

"Pardon  my  deferring  this  question  to  a  future 
time,  when  I  shall  take  pleasure  in  giving  you 
the  conclusions  of  angelic  wisdom  on  that  and 
other  subjects." 

Naturally,  the  degree  of  advance  of  our  hu- 
manity towards  its  predestined,  glorified  union 
with  the  Christ  and  its  ultimate  use  in  the  uni- 
verse of  worlds,  by  reason  of  its  experience  in  evil, 
together  with  all  cognate  questions,  would  be  of 
the  profoundest  interest  to  the  various  peoples  of 
our  sister  planets,  as  well  as  to  ourselves. 

It  has  recently  been  my  privilege  to  attend  a 
convention  of  delegates  from  the  several  heavens 
of  our  solar  family  of  planets,  assembled  in  the 
spiritual  realm  of  our  earth,  seeking,  as  the  Apos- 
tle writes,  to  inquire  into  these  things.  At 


Two  In  One  275 

another  time,  I  will  give  you  an  account  of  its 
proceedings.  But  for  the  present,  I  must  leave 
you." 


RemarK :  Our  M.  M.  S.  here  contains  a  resume 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  planetary  convention  as 
promised,  which  with  much  more  we  are  com- 
pelled to  omit.  We  will  close  this  work  with  a 
brief  extract  from  an  exposition  of  the  Book  of 
Revelations. 

"The  wall  surrounding  the  city  (the  New 
Jerusalem)  is  the  true  system  of  Divine  truth. 
None  can  enter  these  gates  that  believe  or  make  a 
lie.  This  system  of  truth  has  its  foundations  in 
the  number  12,  the  dual  idea.  The  wall  had 
twelve  foundations.  So  also  the  same  duality  runs 
through  and  makes  up  the  entire  superstructure. 
The  union  of  man  and  woman  is  the  basis  of  the 
whole.  But  this  wil  suffice  as  to  the  significance 
of  the  symbolism.  [This  had  been  fully  shown  in 
the  preceding  discussion  of  the  subject.] 

Enough  has  been  said  to  indicate  that  we  have 
here  portrayed  a  humanity  in  whom  love  and 
truth  are  joined  in  one  in  each  individual  man  or 
woman  and  that  this  duality  is  still  further  ex- 
pressed in  a  perfect  oneness  of  pairs  making  one 
dual  individual.  Through  organic  unity  with 
Christ  in  God,  each  one  of  the  pair  beholds  the 
very  face  of  the  Divine  in  the  person  of  his  or  her 


276  Two  In  One 

counterpart,  manifesting  as  it  does  in  outward 
form  the  interior  Divine  Self,  and  thus  by  reason 
of  this  unity  with  and  in  God  there  is  a  perfect 
oneness  of  all  Humanity,  each  with  all  and  all  with 
each  constituting  one  grand  unitary  body  in  which 
Christ  dwells  as  the  light  and  life. 

Thus  this  city  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  this  bride 
of  the  Lamb,  is  full  of  the  glory  of  God.  The 
very  life  and  power  of  the  Eternal  One  unob- 
structedly  pulses  through  it  as  the  heart  sends  the 
blood  into  the  arteries  and  veins  and  every  tissue 
of  the  body.  Language  can  express  no  more.  To 
say  that  there  is  no  more  sorrow,  nor  pain,  nor 
death,  is  saying  what  is  already  implied.  Noth- 
ing can  be  added  to  the  beauty  of  the  picture,  and 
to  the  idea  of  the  blessedness  of  those  who  shall 
be  able  to  enter  into  the  gates  of  the  city. 

Now  let  us  consider  what  this  new  Jerusalem 
means.  The  Lord  Jesus  said  to  his  disciples,  'In 
my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions.  *  *  *I  go 
to  prepare  a  place  for  you/  This  is  the  key  to 
the  understanding  of  the  meaning  of  this  city  de- 
scending from  God  out  of  heaven. 

Previous  to  Christ's  incarnation,  the  inhabitants 
of  our  earth,  the  saved  and  the  unsaved  alike,  at 
death  ceased  to  have  consciousness  in  the  bodily 
degree  and  entered  upon  the  soul  degree  of  con- 
sciousness, Hades,  or  the  spirit-world,  with  no 
possibility  under  the  then  existing  conditions  that 


Two  In  One  277 

there  ever  could  be  a  resumption  of  bodily  con- 
sciousness. The  only  difference  between  the  be- 
lieving and  the  unbelieving  was  that  the  former 
were  freed  from  the  domination  of  evil,  while  the 
latter  were  subject  to  it.  The  one  state  was  Para- 
dise, the  other  Gehenna.  In  the  parable  of  the 
rich  man  and  Lazarus,  the  veil  is  drawn  and  we 
get  a  glimpse  of  the  two  states.  But  Christ 
Jesus  came,  the  Father  in  him  descending  into  the 
very  bodily  conditions  of  the  race,  and  organized 
the  Divine  into  the  extreme  bounds  of  bodily  con- 
sciousness. He  thus  became  in  himself  the  Alpha 
and  the  Omega,  the  Beginning  and  the  End,  the 
First  and  the  Last  in  our  humanity.  The  object 
of  his  Divine  incarnation  was  that  the  entire  race 
as  a  result  of  the  outgoing  of  Divine  Power 
through  him  might  be  delivered  from  their  thrall- 
dom,  and  like  unto  him  have  their  consciousness 
opened  and  filled  with  the  Divine,  he  being  the 
head  and  they  the  members  of  one  grand  unitary 
body.  The  ulterior  purpose  designed  from  the 
beginning,  by  the  very  existence  of  our  race,  was 
that  we  might  become  a  medium  for  the  outraying 
of  his  Divine  glories  to  all  the  rest  of  the  universe 
for  evermore.  Just  as  he  was  a  vicarious  sufferer 
for  our  humanity,  our  sins  being  laid  upon  him 
and  by  his  stripes  we  being  healed,  so  our  race 
through  its  experiences  of  evil  and  falsity  vicar- 
iously suffers  for  the  universe.  None  henceforth 


278  Two  In  One 

n?ed  to  go  through  these  experiences  of  evil  and 
falsity  in  order  to  understand  by  contrast  the 
good  and  the  true.  We  have,  for  them,  descended 
to  the  depths,  and  stand  as  an  illustrative  example 
to  all  evermore.  We  through  the  Christ  in  us 
are  constituted  the  teachers  of  the  universe. 

When  Christ  came,  the  race  had  descended  to 
the  lowest  depth.  One  step  lower  would  have 
been  into  a  de-humanized  state.  At  that  point 
the  Divine,  having  incarnated  Himself  in  Jesus 
Christ,  began  the  work  of  race  redemption.  The 
panorama  of  Revelation  which  appeared  to  John 
on  4lie  Isle  of  Patmos  was  the  prophetic  delinea- 
tion of  this  work  of  the  Lord  from  the  date  of  his 
ascension  to  the  end.  The  peoples  who  had  be- 
fore believed  in  and  obeyed  God,  and  so  had  be- 
come regenerate  in  the  soul  degree,  had  in  their 
Paradisiacal  world  in  Hades  formed  what  may  be 
termed  the  'old  heavens.'  These  having  died 
without  knowledge  of,  or  faith  in,  the  Divine  Hu- 
manity as  exhibited  in  Jesus  Christ,  needed  to 
have  this  gospel  of  the  Divine  Natural  Humanity 
preached  to  them,  that  they  might  become  organ- 
ically united  to  the  Christ,  and  so  be  able  in  the 
fullness  of  time  to  resume  their  bodily  state  of 
consciousness  and  be  filled  with  the  Divine  power 
and  glory  in  that  essential  degree  of  their  exist- 
enc.  This  was  the  gospel  which  Christ  is  said  to 


Two  In  One  279 

have  preached  to  the  spirits  in  prison  during  the 
three  days  between  his  death  and  resurrection. 

These  believers,  receiving  the  truth  of  the  Di- 
vine Natural  Humanity,  have  become  organized 
upon  that  basis,  and  have  put  on  the  resurrection 
conditions,  with  the  Lord  as  their  head.  This  is 
called  in  the  Scriptures  the  'new  heavens.'  It 
is  the  New  Jerusalem,  the  bride  adorned  for  her 
husband  about  which  we  read  in  the  21st  chapter 
of  Revelation.  It  is  humanity  perfected.  The 
process  of  the  formation  of  these  new  heavens  has 
been  going  forward  till  now  the  New  Jerusalem, 
this  perfected  heavens,  is  descending,  and  the 
final  battle  between  the  evil  and  the  good  is  im- 
pending, with  the  results  already  previously  de- 
scribed. This  New  Jerusalem  is  humanity  per- 
fected in  one  in  Christ. 

This  holy  city  is  now  in  close  proximity  to  the 
earth  degree  of  thought,  as  indicated  by  unmis- 
takeable  signs.  The  pulsing  of  its  life  can  be  and 
is  consciously  felt  by  every  one  in  the  true  organic 
unity  with  Jesus  Christ.  Every  such  one  in 
Christ  has  in  fact  entered  through  the  gates  into 
the  city.  He  is  a  citizen  of  that  city.  And  he 
should  just  as  truly  have  conscious  fellowship 
with  the  angelic  inhabitants  of  the  city  as  with 
Him  who  is  its  Center  of  its  Life. 

In  the  last  chapter  of  Revelation  we  have  a  fur- 
ther description  of  the  blessedness  of  the  state  of 


280  Two  In  One 

those  who  dwell  within  the  city :  * '  And  he  pointed 
out  to  me  a  river  of  water  of  life,  bright  as  crys- 
tal, issuing  forth  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  the 
Lamb.  Between  her  broadway  and  river,  hence 
and  thence,  a  tree  of  life  producing  twelve  fruits, 
month  by  month,  severally,  yielding  its  fruit ;  and 
the  leaves  of  the  trees  were  for  the  curing  of  the 
nations.  And  no  curse  shall  be  any  more;  and 
the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  within  her 
shall  be;  and  his  servants  will  render  him  divine 
service ;  and  they  shall  see  his  face ;  and  his  name 
shall  be  on  their  foreheads. 

And  night  shall  not  be  any  more ;  and  they  have 
no  need  of  lamp,  and  light  of  sun;  because  the 
Lord  God  will  shed  light  upon  them;  and  they 
shall  reign  to  the  ages  of  ages.*' 

"Here,  at  the  close  of  our  race's  ages-long 
career  of  wandering  from  the  Adamic  Paradise, 
we  have  again  the  return  thereto,  with  its  tree  of 
life  and  the  river  of  the  water  of  life,  from  which 
the  Edenic  lapse  had  debarred  us.  That  tree  is 
the  Divine  Humanity,  and  its  fruit  is  the  bliss  of 
conscious  union  therewith.  The  river  of  life  is 
the  ever-flowing  stream  of  the  Divine  love  flowing 
through  and  watering  all  the  land  of  the  soul. 

As  the  Edenic  lapse  arose  from  a  spiritual  dis- 
junction of  the  dual  pair,  and  a  transference  of 
their  union  to  the  gross  carnalities  of  sense,  so, 
now  we  find  the  fundamental  feature  of  the  res- 


Two  In  One  281 

toration  to  inhere  in  the  re-establishment  of  the 
spiritual  dual  relation.  This  is  indicated,  as  be- 
fore remarked,  by  the  number  12,  the  symbolic 
number  of  the  Divine  marriage.  The  tree  of  life 
bears  'twelve  fruits,  month  by  month,  severally 
yielding  its  fruit/  The  reference  here  is  to  the 
twelve  gates  of  faculties  made  up  of  the  united 
pair,  through  which  is  received  the  Divine  inflow- 
ing life.  Its  monthly  yield  has  its  symbolic  ex- 
pression in  the  physical  constitution  of  woman. 

Behold  a  dual  pair,  as  they  stand  before  us,  in 
the  coming  age :  all  that  their  imaginations  can 
conceive,  or  their  hearts  desire,  they  possess,  as 
to  food,  raiment,  dwelling,  paintings,  statuary, 
music,  and  whatever  of  beauty  and  loveliness  their 
senses  can  apprehend.  All  these  environments 
grow  out  of  their  mental  states  as  pictures  are 
thrown  upon  the  screen  by  the  stereopticon.  God's 
outraying  life  through  them  ultimates  their  men- 
tal states  of  innocence  and  beauty,  momentarily  to 
their  enraptured  sight.  They  are  Divine  artists, 
shaping  all  external  forms  at  their  will.  Their 
sense-world  they  govern  as  their  taste  may  sug- 
gest. It  is  said,  'They  shall  reign  to  the  ages  of 
ages. '  This  implies  that  all  their  environments  GJ 
whatever  kind  shall  be  subservient  to  their  every 
wish.  They  cannot  want,  for  the  spiritual  law  is 
that  the  want  produces  its  own  supply. 

But  all  this  external  is  only  as  an  echo  to  their 


282  Two  In  One 

spiritual  beatitudes.  They  in  each  other  rest  in 
a  rapture  of  innocent  delight  such  as  to  attempt 
to  portray  by  words  were  but  mockery.  Multiply 
a  million  fold  the  highest  bliss  know  to  our  pres- 
ent state — that  which  is  most  akin  to  the  spiritual 
conjugal  state,  viz. — the  loves  of  the  innocent 
youth  and  maiden — and  it  will  give  but  the  faint- 
est glimpse  of  the  raptures  of  those  who  are  puri- 
fied from  the  ' curse'  of  all  sensuality,  and  rest  in 
one  in  the  bosom  of  God,  beholding  His  face  and 
basking  in  the  sunlight  of  his  presence. 

All  share  the  same  life.  The  bliss  of  all  as  a 
common  tide  flows  through  and  in  all,  uniting 
them  as  one,  and  thus  making  the  happiness  of 
each  the  joy  of  all.  The  social  atmosphere  is 
laden  with  the  aura  of  the  Divine  life;  every 
thought  of  another,  is  an  outgoing  of  love  as  a 
messenger  sent  forth  to  return  freighted  with 
blessing;  the  very  ground  they  tread  sends 
through  every  fibre  magnetic  thrills  of  blessed 
peace,  and  love  to  God  and  man.  Such  is  the 
state  of  things  to  be,  and  towards  which  the  race 
is  fast  hastening. " 

The  End. 


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